pertain

verb per·tain \ pər-ˈtān \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Examples: pertain in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of pertain

intransitive verb

1 a (1) : to belong as a part, member, accessory, or product

(2) : to belong as an attribute, feature, or function

the destruction pertaining to war

(3) : to belong as a duty or right

rights that pertain to fatherhood

b : to be appropriate to something

which rule pertains?

2 : to have reference

books pertaining to birds

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See pertain defined for kids

pertain was our Word of the Day on 05/25/2013. Hear the podcast!

Examples of pertain in a Sentence

books pertaining to the country's history
the belief that quality medical care is a right that pertains to everyone

Recent Examples of pertain from the Web

Those documents pertained to officers finding DelTondo in a parked car with an underage male.

— CBS News, "Police chief placed on leave amid probe into teacher's murder," 7 June 2018
The uncertainty over treatment eligibility primarily pertains to a new class of treatments that harness the power of a patient’s immune system to attack cancer cells.

— casey ross, STAT, "A new cancer care dilemma: Patients want immunotherapy even when evidence is lacking," 4 June 2018
The first pertains to the books that teachers oblige kids to get through before classes resume in September.

— meghan cox gurdon, WSJ, "Children’s Books: Days When Reading Is the Stuff of Freedom," 25 May 2018
Thirteen of these pleas from makers of generics pertained to Celgene’s blockbuster cancer drug Revlimid, which accounted for 63 percent of Celgene’s revenue in the first quarter of 2018, according to a company press release.

— sydney lupkin — kaiser health news, STAT, "Drug makers blamed for blocking generics have jacked up prices and cost U.S. billions," 23 May 2018
There are no charges or circumstances that would affect Scot Peterson's pension, according to a March 28 department letter requesting local officials submit information pertaining to Peterson's retirement benefits.

— eliott c. mclaughlin, CNN, "Parkland school resource officer decried as coward gets princely pension of $8,702 a month," 16 May 2018
The rule also typically pertains to indoor personal photography as well.

— lauren rearick, Teen Vogue, "Best Met Gala 2018 Celebrity Selfies," 8 May 2018
Anyone who has information pertaining to his whereabouts is being asked to call CrimeStoppers at 513-352-3040.

— cameron knight, Cincinnati.com, "Police hunting for man wanted in the rape of children," 19 Apr. 2018
In addition to public events, Strong Towns will post information pertaining to the Akron work on its website, including daily written content, weekly podcasts and interactive webcasts.

— jennifer conn, akron reporter, cleveland.com, "Knight Foundation $120,000 grant brings Strong Towns to Akron to spur ideas for economic stability," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'pertain.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Pertain comes to us 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, obtain, maintain, 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.

Origin and Etymology of pertain

Middle English perteinen, from Anglo-French partenir, purteiner, from Latin pertinēre to reach to, belong, from per- through + tenēre to hold — more at thin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

See Words from the same year