Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Gerund

Ger′und, n. [L. gerundium, fr. gerere to bear, carry, perform. See Gest a deed, Jest.] (Lat. Gram.)

1. A kind of verbal noun, having only the four oblique cases of the singular number, and governing cases like a participle.

2. (AS. Gram.) A verbal noun ending in -e, preceded by to and usually denoting purpose or end; — called also the dative infinitive; as, "Ic hæbbe mete tô etanne" (I have meat to eat.) In Modern English the name has been applied to verbal or participal nouns in -ing denoting a transitive action; e. g., by throwing a stone.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.