a noun formed from a verb (such as the `-ing' form of an English verb when used as a noun)
A verbal form that functions as a verbal noun. (In English, a gerund has the same spelling as a present participle, but functions differently; however, this distinction may be ambiguous or unclear and so is no longer made in some modern texts such as A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language and The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)
The word comes from the Latin gerundium, which originally meant "that which is to be carried out." It derives from the verb gerō, meaning "to carry" or "to bear."