Present participle of covet; the act of desiring something, especially something that belongs to another person.
From 'covet' (Old French 'coveitier,' possibly from Latin 'cupiditas'), with the present participle suffix '-ing' (Old English 'ing'). The '-ing' form creates gerunds and present continuous forms.
The '-ing' suffix does double duty in English—it makes present progressive forms ('I am coveting') and gerunds (nouns like 'Coveting is a sin'). This dual function is rare in world languages!
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