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desideratum

[dih-sid-uh-rey-tuh m, -rah-, -zid-]
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noun, plural de·sid·er·a·ta [dih-sid-uh-rey-tuh, -rah-, -zid-] /dɪˌsɪd əˈreɪ tə, -ˈrɑ-, -ˌzɪd-/.
  1. something wanted or needed.
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Origin of desideratum

1645–55; < Latin, noun use of neuter past participle of dēsīderāre; see desiderate

desiderata

[dih-sid-uh-rey-tuh, -rah-, -zid-]
plural noun, singular de·sid·er·a·tum.
  1. things wanted or needed; the plural of desideratum: “Happily-ever-after” and “eternal love” appear to be the desiderata of the current generation; to whom “fat chance” say those of us who are older, wiser, and more curmudgeonly.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

requirementpreconditionprerequisitefundamentalobligationessentialurgencyuserightwishcommitmentdemandspecificationstipulationqualificationneedprovisionconditionconcerndesire

Examples from the Web for desideratum

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • If health is a desideratum, one way to attain a lot of it is to cut out the booze.

    The Old Game

    Samuel G. Blythe

  • An appearance of antiquity is never a desideratum to the honest book-collector.

  • A revision of genus Cratægus has long been a desideratum with botanists.

  • For in that summery clime shade, not sun, is the desideratum.

    The Free Lances

    Mayne Reid

  • There is no sentiment in botany or in chemistry, and in them the desideratum is truth.

    Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert

British Dictionary definitions for desideratum

desideratum

noun plural -ta (-tə)
  1. something lacked and wanted
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Word Origin

C17: from Latin; see desiderate

desiderata

noun
  1. the plural of desideratum
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for desideratum

n.

"something lacking," see desiderata.

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desiderata

n.

plural of desideratum (1650s), from Latin, literally "something for which desire is felt," from past participle stem of desiderare "to long for" (see desire).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper