This week’s theme
Miscellaneous words

This week’s words
lodestar
uliginous
superbity
analphabetic
appetence

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Next week’s theme
Words from chemistry

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(A-puh-tuhns)

MEANING:

noun: A strong desire or inclination.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French appétence (desire), from Latin appetentia, from appetere (to seek after), ad- (to) + petere (to seek). Ultimately from the Indo-European root pet- (to rush or fly), which also gave us appetite, feather, petition, compete, perpetual, propitious, impetuous, petulant, pteridology, pinnate, and lepidopterology. Earliest documented use: 1610.

USAGE:

“Conservatives will now be able to test the national appetence for more individualistic solutions to social policy problems.”
James Travers; Cautious Voters Keep New PM on Tight Leash; Toronto Star (Canada); Jan 24, 2006.

See more usage examples of appetence in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: