appertain, v.
(æpəˈteɪn)
Forms: 4–5 apertene, -teyn, 5 appertene, -artene, -urteyn(e, 5–6 appertein, -teyn(e, -teigne, 6 adpertene, apparteyne, -ertayne, 6–7 -taine, 7 -tane, -taigne, apertain, 7– appertain.
[a. OFr. aparten-ir, aperten-ir:—late L. adpertinē-re, f. ad- to, completely + pertinēre to belong to, f. per through + tenēre to hold. For change to app- see ap- prefix1.]
1. intr. To belong as parts to the whole, or as members to a family or class, and hence, to the head of the family; to be related, akin to.
| c 1450 Merlin xxi. 373 These other tweyne..aperteyne to the kynge loot..and be Erles sones. 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. xlvii. 719 Of plummes..some apparteyne to the garden, and some are of a wilde kinde. 1611 Bible Numb. xvi. 32 All the men that appertained vnto Korah. 1794 Sullivan View Nat. I. 454 Disunited particles, which appear to have originally appertained to stones or rocks. 1843 Mill Logic Introd. (1868) 7 To this science appertain the great and much debated questions. |
2. To belong as a possession to.
| 1416 Langley in Ellis Orig. Lett. ii. 18 I. 51 Withinne youre Churche..ther shulde be certein thyng that to yowe apperteneth. 1564 Wills & Inv. N. Count. (1835) 219 Dubbletts and all other rayments apperteynyng vnto me. 1667 E. Chamberlayne St. Gt. Brit. ii. i. ii. (1743) 294 The Abbey of Deer..appertained to the Cistercian monks. 1790–1 Dallas Amer. Law Rep. 71 Whether all property found in the city..should appertain to the United States. 1809 Tomlins Law Dict., Appurtenances..things both corporeal and incorporeal appertaining to another thing. |
3. To belong as a right or privilege to.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 155/4 This place apperteyneth to no man but to preestes. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 16 The punishment..appertaineth to the Campe-maister. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iv. xliv. 350 Shall not all Judicature appertain to Christ? 1793 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 34 The right of raising troops..appertaining exclusively to the nation itself. 1883 Law Times 20 Oct. 410/1 Until the present reign probate jurisdiction appertained solely to the Ecclesiastical Courts. |
4. To belong naturally or by inherent fitness; to be suited, proper, appropriate to.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶976 To fastyng appurteynen [v.r. -ertenen, -arteyneth, -artenen, partenyth] foure thinges. c 1470 Hors, Shepe, & Ghoos (1822) 5 Hardynesse..apperteyneth to euery manly knyght. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scotl. II. 18 How he fure adpertenis nocht to me To tell. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iv. i. 210 Do all rites, That appertaine vnto a buriall. 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters II. 13 That appellation seems more properly to appertain to the phlogiston. 1813 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. x. 43 The degree of importance which is to appertain to this request. |
5. To belong as an attribute, function, or affecting circumstance; to pertain, relate.
| c 1391 Chaucer Astrol. Prol. 1 A certein nombre of conclusions apertenyng to the same instrument. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 282, I should know no Secrets That appertaine to you. 1850 Daubeny Atom. The. vi. 168 The crystalline form of a body is not always determined by any unalterable property appertaining to its component atoms. |
† 6. impers. (chiefly in senses 3 and 4.) Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶15 It apperteyneth [v.r. aperteneth, -tyneth, -teigneþ, perteyneth] not to a wys man, to make such sorwe. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 19 It apparteigneth to euery man..to seke science. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. 23 Further than appertaineth to the degree of a creature. 1623 Lisle Test. Antiq. Pref., Unto whom it did first appertaine to exact of Priests..this profession. |
† b. absol. As appertains: as is proper or due. Obs.
| 1524 Wolsey State Papers (1836) IV. 89 To see theym conduyted in saufetye..as shall appertain. 1611 Bible 1 Esdr. i. 12 They rosted the Passeouer with fire, as appertaineth. |
† 7. trans. (by omission of to.) To belong to, become, befit. Obs. rare.
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4838 It appertenethe a kyng for to be A kyng in verray sothe. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W.) i. clxiv. 173 a/2 It aperteynyth thy dygnytee, for to doo that this poore synfull woman askith. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas 622 The Soule..longing to behold the place that appertains her, Doth loath the bodie. 1601 Dolman Fr. Acad. (1618) 657 Have attributed that to their nation which properly appertaineth not them. |