desire
/dɪˈzaɪɹ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.61 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To want emotionally or sexually.
Example Sentences
- "I desire to speak with you."
- "Neither shall any man desire thy land."
- "[S]eeing you desire your child to live, / Thanks, but you work against your own desire; […]"
- "And when they founde no cause of deeth in hym, yet desired they Pilate to kyll him."
- "Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired."
- "She has desired him since they first met."
Etymology
From Middle English desir, desire (noun) and desiren (verb), from Old French desirer, desirrer, from Latin dēsīderō (“to long for, desire, feel the want of, miss, regret”), apparently from de- + sidus (in the phrase de sidere, "from the stars") in connection with astrological hopes. Compare consider and desiderate. The verb, along with Old Norse derived want (verb), has mostly replaced native will in modern English.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /dɪˈzaɪɹ/
- British English: /dɪˈzaɪə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
desires (present, singular)
desiring (participle, present)
desired (participle, past)
desired (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
desired (first person, past)
desirest (archaic, present)
desired (past, second person)
desiredst (archaic, past)
desireth (archaic, present)
desired (past, singular)