calling

Etymology 1

From Middle English callyng, kallyng, kalland, from Old English *cealliende and Old Norse kallandi, equivalent to call + -ing.

verb

1. present participle and gerund of call

Etymology 2

From Middle English calling, callynge, equivalent to call + -ing.

noun

1. A strong urge to become religious.
2. A job or occupation.
   Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. Piling debt onto companies’ balance-sheets is only a small part of what leveraged buy-outs are about, they insist. Improving the workings of the businesses they take over is just as core to their calling, if not more so. Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. 2013-06-22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70