desire

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See also: désire, désiré, Désiré, and Desiré

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English 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. Displaced native Old English wilnung (desire) and wilnian (to desire).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

desire (third-person singular simple present desires, present participle desiring, simple past and past participle desired)

  1. To want; to wish for earnestly.
    I desire to speak with you.
  2. To put a request to (someone); to entreat.
  3. To want emotionally or sexually.
    She has desired him since they first met.
  4. To express a wish for; to entreat; to request.
  5. To require; to demand; to claim.
    • c. 1580, Edmund Spenser, The Teares of the Muses:
      A doleful case desires a doleful song.
  6. To miss; to regret.

Conjugation[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

desire (usually uncountable, plural desires)

  1. (countable) Someone or something wished for.
    It is my desire to speak with you.
    You’re my heart’s desire.
    • 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
      It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: perhaps out of a desire to escape the gravity of this world or to get a preview of the next; […].
  2. (uncountable) Strong attraction, particularly romantic or sexual.
    His desire for her kept him awake at night.
  3. (uncountable) The feeling of desiring; an eager longing for something.
    Too much desire can seriously affect one’s judgment.
  4. (uncountable) Motivation. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms[edit]

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Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also[edit]

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

Italian[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Old Occitan dezire.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /deˈzi.re/
  • Rhymes: -ire
  • Hyphenation: de‧sì‧re

Noun[edit]

desire m (plural desiri)

  1. (poetic, archaic) desire
    Synonym: desiderio

Related terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • desire in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

desire

  1. desire

Descendants[edit]

  • English: desire

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From desi +‎ -re.

Noun[edit]

desire f (plural desiri)

  1. thickening

Declension[edit]

References[edit]

  • desire in Academia Română, Micul dicționar academic, ediția a II-a, Bucharest: Univers Enciclopedic, 2010. →ISBN