Ruilingen

Ruilingen is a Dutch noun that denotes the act or outcome of exchanging goods or services between parties, i.e., a swap or barter arrangement. The term is formed from ruilen, to exchange, plus the agentive suffix -ing and the plural -en, though in practice it is rarely used in contemporary Dutch.

In contemporary usage, more common terms are ruilhandel (barter trade), ruilen (to exchange), or simply uitwisseling for an exchange. Historically, ruilingen appeared in discussions of local markets, municipalities, or rural communities where barter without money was common. They could be direct reciprocal exchanges or involve networks of intermediaries and promises, and they often occurred alongside or prior to the widespread use of currency.

Linguistically, ruilingen reflects the Germanic roots of Dutch: ruil meaning exchange, with -ing forming a noun of process. The word is primarily of historical or technical interest today and is not a standard descriptor in modern everyday speech.

Today the concept is usually described with phrases like swap, barter, or exchange rather than using the noun ruilingen. Related terms include ruilhandel, barter, mutual credit, and time banking.