Meaning & use
fellowshipping
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“fellowshipping” is a form of “fellowship”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitivereligion
Spending time with other people in a friendly way, especially as part of a church or religious group.
Grammar: No object; often used with 'with' to name the people: they were fellowshipping with other believers.
Patterns
- fellowship with someone
- fellowship together
After the Sunday service, the families stayed to fellowship over coffee and cake.
The church encourages members to fellowship with one another during the week.
They spent the evening fellowshipping and singing hymns together.
verbintransitive
Taking part in a formal program that gives money or support to a student or researcher.
Grammar: No object; used about students or researchers who hold a fellowship.
Patterns
- fellowship at a university
- be fellowshipping
She is currently fellowshipping at a medical school in Boston.
He spent a year fellowshipping in cardiology before returning to his home hospital.
Two young scientists are fellowshipping with the research team this summer.
Word forms
| base form | fellowship |
|---|---|
| third person singular | fellowships |
| past tense | fellowshipped |
| past participle | fellowshipped |
| present participle | fellowshipping |
Common combinations
- fellowship with other believers
- The new members were eager to fellowship with other believers.
- fellowship together
- The whole congregation fellowshipped together after the baptism.
- spend time fellowshipping
- They spend Sunday afternoons fellowshipping and sharing meals.
- fellowshipping at a university
- She is fellowshipping at a university while she finishes her research.
Synonyms and how they differ
- socializing
- Socializing is the everyday word for meeting people for fun; fellowshipping is more specific and usually has a religious or formal-program flavor.
- mingling
- Mingling means moving around and talking to many people at an event; fellowshipping suggests deeper shared time, often within a faith community.
Word family
- fellowship noun
- A friendly group, a shared feeling of friendship, or a paid position for study.
- fellow noun
- A man, a companion, or a member of an academic society.
- fellowship verb
- The base verb meaning to spend time with others in a group.
Commonly confused: fellowshipping or fellowship?
fellowshipping vs fellowship
The noun is spelled with one 'p' in the middle and no -ing; the -ing verb form doubles the 'p': fellowshipping.
Practice
After the church service, the members stayed to ______ with each other over coffee.
Choose one answer.
After 'to' we need the base form of the verb, so 'fellowship' is correct. 'Fellowshipping' is the -ing form and cannot follow 'to' here; 'fellowshipped' is past tense; 'fellowships' is third-person singular and does not fit the plural subject 'the members'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fellowshipping”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.