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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
The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
The case pertained only to Pennsylvania, whose 19 electoral votes are key to next week’s contest.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024
Alongside divestment pertaining the its wind power businesses, BP is reducing exposure to solar power as well.
—Gaurav Sharma, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2024
The following information pertains only to guaifenesin, the active ingredient in regular Mucinex.
—Alex Yampolsky, Verywell Health, 10 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Pertain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pertain. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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pertain
verb
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