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desire

Pronunciation: /dɪˈzaɪə/

The English word “desire” has 10 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To want; to wish for earnestly.
  2. To put a request to (someone); to entreat.
  3. To want emotionally or sexually.
  4. To express a wish for; to entreat; to request.
  5. To require; to demand; to claim.
  6. To miss; to regret.

noun

  1. The feeling of desiring; an eager longing for something.
  2. Someone or something wished for.
  3. Strong attraction, particularly romantic or sexual.
  4. Motivation.

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…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.