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
Aphorisms came into being as the result of experience, whereas axioms are self-evident truths, requiring no proof, and appertain to pure reason.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 2 "Anjar" to "Apollo" by Various
The artists belonging to the ceded portion will be considered by me in this school, to which they appertain, being educated in it, and instructing other pupils in it, in their turn.
From The History of Painting in Italy, Vol. IV (of 6) from the Period of the Revival of the Fine Arts to the End of the Eighteenth Century by Luigi Antonio Lanzi
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 first of these thus issued appertain entirely to the system of the Empire of Charlemagne.
From The History of Currency, 1252 to 1896 by William Arthur Shaw
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