English
holding
From hold + -ing.
Formed from hold + -ing
Proto-Germanic *haldaną ‘to tend, herd’
Proto-West Germanic *haldan
Old English healdan
Middle English holden ‘to hold’
English hold
The story
The sense "holding company" is from Russian холдинг (xolding), a pseudo-anglicism derived from an ellipsis of holding company.
Today it means
noun Something that one owns, especially stocks and bonds.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / holding