penchant
[pen-chuh nt; French pahn-shahn]
- a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something: a penchant for outdoor sports.
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Origin of penchant
1665–75; < French, noun use of present participle of pencher to incline, lean < Vulgar Latin *pendicāre, derivative of Latin pendēre to hang
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for penchant
Contemporary Examples
This penchant for medical internationalism goes back to the greatest icon of the revolution, Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
The CIA has a penchant for such hilarious and sometimes depraved schemes.
Bid on CIA’s Osama Action Figure, Lewinsky's Lingerie, and More at This L.A. Auction HouseAsawin Suebsaeng
November 11, 2014
Reality-show deal aside, Weeks has a penchant for talking about her poverty.
Let this be a warning for rich men who have a penchant for younger women—they can be quite jealous.
Alleged Murderer Shot Her Millionaire Ex and Escaped in Gold HummerBarbie Latza Nadeau
April 11, 2014
Unlike his falsetto and his "cool dad" penchant for fedoras, this rumored affair is just so not cute.
Historical Examples
Ling Chu on the contrary had a penchant for buses and seemed to enjoy them.
The Daffodil MysteryEdgar Wallace
What a penchant all our honest detectives have for gems, and where do they get them?
Bidwell's Travels, from Wall Street to London PrisonAustin Biron Bidwell
If he have a penchant for outdoor life, then the32 choice, in a way, is easy.
Opportunities in EngineeringCharles M. Horton
The man has a penchant for short and nervous sentences, but they are never jerky.
The Merry-Go-RoundCarl Van Vechten
It had come to be an accepted joke with them, that penchant of Piney's for Italy.
Sally of MissouriR. E. Young
penchant
- a strong inclination or liking; bent or taste
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Word Origin
C17: from French, from pencher to incline, from Latin pendēre to be suspended
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 penchant
n.
1670s, from French penchant, noun use of present participle of Old French pencher "to incline," from Vulgar Latin *pendicare, a frequentative formed from Latin pendere "to hang" (see pendant (n.)).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with penchant
penchant
see have a penchant for.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.