rotting

Etymology

From Middle English rotynge (“rotting”), from Old English rotung; equivalent to rot + -ing. Conflated with Middle English rotende, present participle of roten (“to rot”), from Old English rotiende, present participle of rotian (“to rot”).

verb

1. present participle and gerund of rot

noun

1. The process by which something rots.
   […] the mould on the boles of the other [trees], that lyes commonly there, and is made of the annual rottings of their own leaves. 1686, Robert Plot, The Natural History of Staffordshire, page 214
2. Material that has rotted.
   From the compost rinds and rottings, from the garbage peels, from the shadows' darkness, darkness, this guttered meal and all its redolence. c. 2009, Janice N. Harrington, Possum