Appertain
Pronunciation
- US IPA: /æp.ɚˈten/
- Rhymes: -eɪn
Origin
Middle English apperteinen, apertenen, from Old French apartenir (French appartenir), from Latin appertinere, from ad ("to") + pertinere ("to reach to, belong"). See pertain for details.
Full definition of appertain
Verb
- To belong to or be a part of, whether by right, nature, appointment, or custom; to relate to.
- 1551, , A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles: Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by the Philological Society. Chapter , Also the rule of false position, with dyuers examples not onely vulgar, but some appertaynyng to the rule of Algeber.
- 1886, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet Chapter On the Great Alkali Plain, In this great stretch of country there is no sign of life, nor of anything appertaining to life. There is no bird in the steel-blue heaven, no movement upon the dull, grey earth—above all, there is absolute silence. Listen as one may, there is no shadow of a sound in all that mighty wilderness; nothing but silence—complete and heart-subduing silence.
Usage notes
Appertain is followed by to (or formerly by unto, as in The King James Version of The Bible and in the plays of Shakespeare, although to is used in these works as well).
Related terms
Synonyms
Antonyms
- be irrelevant