appertain

American  

[ap-er-teyn] / ˌæp ərˈteɪn /

verb (used without object)

1. to belong as a part, right, possession, attribute, etc.; pertain or relate (usually followed byto ).

   privileges that appertain to members of the royal family.

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appertain British  

/ ˌæpəˈteɪn /

verb

1. to belong (to) as a part, function, right, etc; relate (to) or be connected (with)

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Etymology

Origin of appertain

1350–1400; Middle English a ( p ) perte ( y ) nen < Old French apertenir. See ap- ¹, pertain

Explanation

Use the verb appertain when you need a formal way to say "officially concern." For example, you could argue, "Those mall rules don't appertain to me and my skateboard." You're most likely to see the word appertain followed by "to," meaning "apply to" or "relate to." Your parents' instructions, for example, appertain to you and your sisters; and passport laws appertain to any citizen who wants to travel to foreign countries. A closely related word is pertain, which has a similar but less formal or official meaning. Both words come from the Latin pertinere, "to relate, have reference to, or be applicable."

Example Sentences

The Alaskan forest reserves still appertain to the Department of Agriculture.

From Time Magazine Archive

To it appertain a set of exceedingly primitive metopes.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 4 "Grasshopper" to "Greek Language" by Various

They appertain to all the duties of life, but are too numerous to be quoted here.

From The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors Or, Christianity Before Christ by Graves, Kersey

The first of these thus issued appertain entirely to the system of the Empire of Charlemagne.

From The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896 by Shaw, William Arthur

The four questions above alluded to appertain respectively to Heredity, Utility, Isolation, and Physiological Selection.

From Darwin, and After Darwin, Volume 2 Post-Darwinian Questions: Heredity and Utility by Romanes, George John