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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
Bing West, National Review, 27 Apr. 2024
More than two years after the conservatorship that had given the singer's father control of her life ended, the pair settled the dispute over the legal fees pertaining to the conservatorship battle.
—Charna Flam, Peoplemag, 27 Apr. 2024
The one interview that was not on school campus was our main victim that came forward with everything pertaining to this case.
—Kira Caspers, The Arizona Republic, 26 Apr. 2024
Weinstein was convicted in December 2022 on three charges pertaining to one accuser, Evgeniya Chernyshova.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 25 Apr. 2024
The news of Harry’s formal country of residence comes a month after a federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to submit documents pertaining to Prince Harry’s visa for review.
—Armani Syed, TIME, 18 Apr. 2024
Among other things, the Fire Code Revision Committee is weighing whether to adopt new National Fire Protection Association standards pertaining to safety at construction sites.
—Ames Alexander, Charlotte Observer, 16 Apr. 2024
Prior to that, Tesla settled most of a class action lawsuit in 2018 pertaining to similar claims, avoiding a trial.
—Wes Davis, The Verge, 15 Apr. 2024
The policy, if followed, will keep administrators busy making many notifications to parents, a few of which would pertain to transgender students, the original aim of the policy.
—Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 15 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pertain.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Pertain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pertain. Accessed 1 May. 2024.
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pertain
verb
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