appertain
Americanverb (used without object)
verb
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."
Vocabulary lists containing appertain
Julius Caesar
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Alaskan forest reserves still appertain to the Department of Agriculture.
From Time Magazine Archive
He likewise carefully provided holy vessels, lamps, and other such things as appertain to the adorning of the house of God.
From Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Cuthbert Bede
And the Right Honorable the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury, and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, are to give the necessary directions herein, as to them may respectively appertain.
From The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution Volume 7. by Various
The idea of a life beyond this one seems also to appertain to normal humanity.
From Julia Ward Howe 1819-1910 by Maud Howe Elliott
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 George John Romanes
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
