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Pertain comes to English via Anglo-French from the Latin verb pertinēre, meaning "to reach to" or "to belong." Pertinēre, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix per- (meaning "through") and tenēre ("to hold"). Tenēre is a popular root in English words and often manifests with the -tain spelling that can be seen in pertain. Other descendants include abstain, contain, detain, maintain, obtain, retain, and sustain, to name a few of the more common ones. Not every -tain word has tenēre in its ancestry, though. Ascertain, attain, and certain are among the exceptions. And a few tenēre words don't follow the usual pattern: tenacious and tenure are two.
Examples of pertain in a Sentence
Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025
Howe, the Johnson County DA, spoke in general terms regarding police efforts pertaining to fentanyl investigations.
—Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 16 Jan. 2025
The complaint stems from the FTC's compliance reviews with Snap following a 2014 settlement regarding allegations of public deception pertaining to data collection by the company.
—Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 16 Jan. 2025
Laws pertaining to Greenland's defense, national security and economy are controlled by policymakers in Denmark.
—Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY, 15 Jan. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pertain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pertain. Accessed 23 Jan. 2025.
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pertain
verb
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