1
as in to belong
to be the property of a person or group of persons the doctrine that the swath of land between the Atlantic and the Pacific naturally appertained to the United States

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of appertain Ah, but a, b, and c above do not appertain to cancer. John Rosemond, charlotteobserver, 11 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for appertain
Verb
  • While the average company spends 9–11% of revenue on marketing and branding, investments in internal culture systems—learning, trust-building, feedback, belonging—average just 1–2% (ATD, Deloitte, SHRM).
    Jyoti Jani, Forbes.com, 21 May 2025
  • In a 2023 New York Times op-ed, Cottom explains how words like ‘citizen,’ ‘taxpayer,’ or even ‘American’ are often used to describe dominant racial groups—and how ‘blonde’ functions similarly, as shorthand for who gets seen as the standard of beauty and belonging.
    Martine Thompson, Essence, 21 May 2025
Verb
  • For instance, Santa Ana voters were set to decide on a measure that would have allowed noncitizens to vote in local elections, but this pertained solely to voting rights, not election administration.
    Martha McHardy, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 May 2025
  • The panel's judgement pertained to two lawsuits — one filed by a group of states led by Arizona and Oregon, and other led by several small businesses.
    Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 29 May 2025
Verb
  • Investigators suspected the two killings were related but ran out of leads and the cases went cold.
    Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 13 May 2025
  • Jennifer Ouellette Senior Writer Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series.
    ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 30 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The same applies to the other numbers noted in the study, 6835, 7637, 8093, and 9629.
    Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 26 May 2025
  • His client in the case, Harry Wiley, a West Virginia coal miner, was diagnosed with an early stage of black lung and applied to NIOSH for a transfer to an environment with less dust exposure but never received a response.
    Taylor Sisk, CNN Money, 26 May 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Appertain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/appertain. Accessed 4 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!