appetence

American  

[ap-i-tuhns] / ˈæp ɪ təns /

noun

1. intense desire; strong natural craving; appetite.

2. instinctive inclination or natural tendency.

3. material or chemical attraction or affinity.

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appetence British  

/ ˈæpɪtəns /

noun

1. a natural craving or desire

2. a natural or instinctive inclination

3. an attraction or affinity

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Other Word Forms

• appetent adjective

Etymology

Origin of appetence

1600–10; appete (obsolete) to seek for, long for (< Latin appetere, equivalent to ap- ap- ¹ + petere to seek) + -ence; or < French appétence

Example Sentences

"In the mean time, says he, as sensitive appetence, and sensibility, are frequently confounded with natural perception, in this irritation of the fibres," he divides it into three kinds, viz.

From North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 by Bache, Franklin

There was no thief on the course who did not wait, in hungry appetence, the sportsman's descent from the stand; yet the novice outstripped them all.

From A Book of Scoundrels by Whibley, Charles

But know you not that creatures wanting sense By nature have a mutual appetence, And, wanting organs to advance a step, Moved by love's force unto each other lep?

From Hero and Leander by Marlowe, Christopher

For perception in any subject is vain, unless it can desire, and appetence is useless, unless it can move.

From North American Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 2, No. 3, July, 1826 by Bache, Franklin

But know you not that creatures wanting sense, By nature have a mutual appetence, And, wanting organs to advance a step, Mov'd by love's force, unto each other lep?

From The Works of Christopher Marlowe, Vol. 3 (of 3) by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)