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Wiktionary

desire

See also: désire, désiré, Désiré, and Desiré

English

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Etymology

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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

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Verb

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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

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Conjugation of desire
infinitive (to) desire
present tense past tense
1st-person singular desire desired
2nd-person singular desire, desirest† desired, desiredst†
3rd-person singular desires, desireth† desired
plural desire
subjunctive desire desired
imperative desire —
participles desiring desired

†Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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desire (usually uncountable, plural desires)

  1. (uncountable) The feeling of desiring; an eager longing for something.
    Too much desire can seriously affect one’s judgment.
    • 1905, E. M. Forster, Where Angels Fear to Tread , chapter 7:
      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.
  2. (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; […].
  3. (uncountable) Strong attraction, particularly romantic or sexual.
    His desire for her kept him awake at night.
  4. (uncountable) Motivation. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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

See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Italian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Old Occitan dezire.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

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desire m (plural desiri)

  1. (poetic, archaic) desire
    Synonym: desiderio
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Further reading

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

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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desire

  1. desire

Descendants

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  • English: desire

Romanian

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Etymology

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From desi +‎ -re.

Noun

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desire f (plural desiri)

  1. thickening

Declension

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singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative-accusative desire desirea desiri desirile
genitive-dative desiri desirii desiri desirilor
vocative desire, desireo desirilor

References

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