desire
Part of speech: verb
noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English desir, 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. The verb, along with Old Norse derived want (verb), has mostly replaced native will in modern English.
Inflected forms:
form: desires
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: desiring
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: past
form: no-table-tags
pos: verb
tags: table-tags
form: glossary
pos: verb
tags: inflection-template
form: desire
pos: verb
tags: infinitive
form: desire
pos: verb
tags: first-person
present
singular
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: first-person
past
singular
form: desire
pos: verb
tags: present
second-person
singular
form: desirest
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
second-person
singular
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: past
second-person
singular
form: desiredst
pos: verb
tags: archaic
past
second-person
singular
form: desires
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: desireth
pos: verb
tags: archaic
present
singular
third-person
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: past
singular
third-person
form: desire
pos: verb
tags: plural
present
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: past
plural
form: desire
pos: verb
tags: present
subjunctive
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: past
subjunctive
form: desire
pos: verb
tags: imperative
present
form: -
pos: verb
tags: imperative
past
form: desiring
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: desired
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: desires
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To want; to wish for earnestly.
pos: verb
examples: I desire to speak with you.
Neither shall any man desire thy land.
[S]eeing you desire your child to live, / Thanks, but you work against your own desire; […]
gloss: To put a request to (someone); to entreat.
pos: verb
examples: And when they founde no cause of deeth in hym, yet desired they Pilate to kyll him.
Mr. Barrett, however, by fawning and flattery, seemed to be able to make not only Mrs. Churchill but everyone else do what he desired.
gloss: To want emotionally or sexually.
pos: verb
examples: She has desired him since they first met.
gloss: To express a wish for; to entreat; to request.
pos: verb
examples: Then shee said, Did I desire a sonne of my Lord ? did I not say, Doe not deceiue me?
Desire him to go in; trouble him no more.
gloss: To require; to demand; to claim.
pos: verb
examples: A doleful case desires a doleful song.
gloss: To miss; to regret.
pos: verb
examples: She shall be pleasant while she lives, and desired when she dies.
gloss: The feeling of desiring; an eager longing for something.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: Too much desire can seriously affect one’s judgement.
He stood...filled with the desire that his son should be like him, and should have sons like him, to people the earth. It is the strongest desire that can come to a man - if it comes to him at all - stronger even than love or the desire for personal immortality.
gloss: Someone or something wished for.
pos: noun
tags: countable
usually
examples: It is my desire to speak with you.
You’re my heart’s desire.
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; […].
gloss: Strong attraction, particularly romantic or sexual.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
examples: His desire for her kept him awake at night.
Doesn't my body drive you wild with desire?
gloss: Motivation.
pos: noun
tags: uncountable
usually
Synonyms: want-to
ambition
appetite
appetition
aspiration
avidity
cacoethes
concupiscence
craving
cupidity
desire
dream
fondness
hankering
hope
hunger
idea
keenness
longing
lust
mind
prurience
thirst
want
wish
yearning
Antonyms: apathy
contempt
disinterest
distaste
hatred
Related words: desideratum
desirability
desirableness
sidereal
undesirability
undesirableness
desirable
desiring-production
desirous
velleity
intention
Derived words: desired effect
desiring-production
desirive
leave a lot to be desired
leave much to be desired
leave something to be desired
alphabet of desire
baptism of desire
counterdesire
desirably
desireful
desireless
desire line
desirement
desire path
heart's desire
mimetic desire
misdesire
nondesire
to a desire
undesire
Translations: