penchant en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French penchant, present participle of pencher (“to tilt, to lean”), from Middle French, from Old French pengier (“to tilt, be out of line”), from Vulgar Latin *pendicāre, a derivative of Latin pendere (“to hang”).
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) A taste, liking, or inclination for (something).
Just like Marple, there's a plaque at the London terminus [Paddington] commemorating a fictional character - a polite, friendly little bear from darkest Peru who has a penchant for marmalade sarnies.
2021 September 22, Stephen Roberts, “The writings on the wall...”, in RAIL, number 940, page 74:2019, Idles, "Never Fight a Man With a Perm", Joy as an Act of Resistance. I said I've got a penchant for smokes and kicking douches in the mouth / Sadly for you my last cigarette's gone out
THE LONDON & NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY. By O. S. Nock. Ian Allan. 30s. [...] One scarcely imagined, for example, that the great steel works at Crewe owed its existence to Sir Richard Moon's penchant for the principle of "Do it yourself", a principle born of a methodical, economical and far-seeing mind.
1960 October, “New reading on railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 640:He has a penchant for fine wine.
Marie even then began the course which, in after-years, secured her so vast an influence in the court,—alternately taking up and laying down her claim to the youthful monarch's penchant; administering to his amusement, and ready to encourage his passing fancies.
1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 264:
- (uncountable) A card game resembling bezique.
- (countable, uncountable) In the game of penchant, any queen and jack of different suits held at the same time.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| penchants | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (34)
nl neiging (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · ja 傾向 (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · pt inclinação (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · cy gogwydd (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · nl voorkeur (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · bg предразположение (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · fi mieltymys (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · no forkjærlighet (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · fa عاشق چیزی بودن (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · cy tuedd (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · sv böjelse (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · fa عشقِ چیزی بودن (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · it inclinazione (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · sv förkärlek (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · de Hang (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · es afición (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · es enza (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · ru предпочте́ние (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · pl skłonność (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · cs vášeň (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · de Vorliebe (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · it apprezzamento (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · cmn 愛好 /爱好 (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · ka მიდრეკილება (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · ka მისწრაფება (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · sv försmak (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · ru скло́нность (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · fr penchant (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · pt predisposição (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · cmn 傾向 /倾向 (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · de Neigung (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · es querencia (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · bg склонност (taste, liking, or inclination (for)) · pl smykałka (taste, liking, or inclination (for))