APPETITE

appetite, appetency, appetence

(noun) a feeling of craving something; “an appetite for life”; “the object of life is to satisfy as many appetencies as possible”- Granville Hicks

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

appetite (countable and uncountable, plural appetites)

Desire to eat food or consume drink.

Any strong desire; an eagerness or longing.

The desire for some personal gratification, either of the body or of the mind.

Synonyms

• craving, longing, desire, appetency, passion

Source: Wiktionary


Ap"pe*tite, n. Etym: [OE. appetit, F. appétit, fr. L. appetitus, fr. appetere to strive after, long for; ad + petere to seek. See Petition, and cf. Appetence.]

1. The desire for some personal gratification, either of the body or of the mind. The object of appetite it whatsoever sensible good may be wished for; the object of will is that good which reason does lead us to seek. Hooker.

2. Desire for, or relish of, food or drink; hunger. Men must have appetite before they will eat. Buckle.

3. Any strong desire; an eagerness or longing. It God had given to eagles an appetite to swim. Jer. Taylor. To gratify the vulgar appetite for the marvelous. Macaulay.

4. Tendency; appetency. [Obs.] In all bodies there as an appetite of union. Bacon.

5. The thing desired. [Obs.] Power being the natural appetite of princes. Swift.

Note: In old authors, appetite is followed by to or of, but regularly it should be followed by for before the object; as, an appetite for pleasure.

Syn.

– Craving; longing; desire; appetency; passion.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

27 May 2025

DIRECTIONALITY

(noun) the property of being directional or maintaining a direction; “the directionality of written English is from left to right”


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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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