This week’s theme
Words that aren’t what they appear to be

This week’s words
bloodnoun
sodalist
reprobate
appurtenance
appose

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(uh-PUHRT-uh-nuns)

MEANING:

noun:
1. An accessory, equipment, gear, etc. associated with an activity or style of living.
2. A subordinate part.
3. In law, rights belonging to a principal property (for example, the right of way).

ETYMOLOGY:

From Anglo-Norman apurtenance, from Latin appertinere (to appertain), from ad- (near) + pertinere (to belong), from per- (through) + tenere (to hold). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ten- (to stretch), which also gave us tense, tenet, tendon, tent, tenor, tender, pretend, extend, tenure, tetanus, hypotenuse, pertinacious, detente, countenance, distend, extenuate, and tenable. Earliest documented use: 1377.

NOTE:

Appurtenance is not the opposite of purtenance, which means entrails of an animal.

USAGE:

“So we buy handbags and hats and other overpriced appurtenances of successful people because we have to nurture our confusing identities.”
Wan A. Hulaimi; Walking Through the Clutter of Modern World; New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur); Feb 1, 2015.

See more usage examples of appurtenance in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: