appetite

English

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for appetite in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Etymology

From Middle English appetit, from Old French apetit (French appétit), from Latin appetitus, from appetere (“to strive after, long for”); ad + petere (“to seek”). See petition, and compare with appetence.

Pronunciation
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • (US, UK) IPA(key): /ˈæp.ə.taɪt/
  • Homophone: apatite

Noun

appetite (countable and uncountable, plural appetites)

  1. Desire for, or relish of, food or drink; hunger.
    • 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest:
      The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. There is something humiliating about it.
  2. Any strong desire; an eagerness or longing.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Jeremy Taylor
      If God had given to eagles an appetite to swim.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Thomas Macaulay
      To gratify the vulgar appetite for the marvelous.
  3. The desire for some personal gratification, either of the body or of the mind.
    • (Can we date this quote?)Richard Hooker
      The object of appetite is whatsoever sensible good may be wished for; the object of will is that good which reason does lead us to seek.
  4. A taste, preference.

Quotations
  • 1904, Arthur Conan Doyle in The Adventure of Black Peter
    And I return with an excellent appetite. There can be no question, my dear Watson, of the value of exercise before breakfast. But I am prepared to bet that you will not guess the form that my exercise has taken.

Synonyms
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Derived terms

Translations
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Further reading

Italian

Verb

appetite

  1. second-person plural present indicative of appetire
  2. second-person plural imperative of appetire

Participle

appetite

  1. feminine plural of the past participle of appetire

Latin

Verb

appetite

  1. second-person plural present active imperative of appetō
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