Nearby Words

Apt

[apt] Example Sentences Origin

apt

[apt]
adjective
1.
inclined; disposed; given; prone: too apt to slander others.
2.
likely: Am I apt to find him at home?
3.
unusually intelligent; able to learn quickly and easily: an apt pupil.
4.
suited to the purpose or occasion; appropriate: an apt metaphor; a few apt remarks on world peace.
5.
Archaic. prepared; ready; willing.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English (< Anglo-French ) < Latin aptus fastened, fitted, fitting, appropriate, equivalent to ap- fasten, attach + -tus past participle suffix

apt·ly, adverb
apt·ness, noun
o·ver·apt, adjective
o·ver·apt·ly, adverb
o·ver·apt·ness, noun

apt, likely (see synonym note at the current entry; see usage note at likely).


1. liable. 2. See likely. 3. clever, bright; adaptable; handy, adroit, dexterous, skillful. 4. fitting, meet, germane, felicitous. Apt, pertinent, relevant all refer to something suitable or fitting. Apt means to the point and particularly appropriate: an apt comment. Pertinent means pertaining to the matter in hand: a pertinent remark. Relevant means directly related to and important to the subject: a relevant opinion.


Some usage guides insist that apt followed by an infinitive can or should be used to mean only “inclined, disposed”: He is apt to ignore matters he regards as unimportant. In fact, apt is standard in all varieties of speech and writing as a synonym for likely in contexts that suggest probability without any implication of a natural disposition toward: Hostilities are apt to break out if the confrontation is not soon resolved. She is apt to arrive almost any time now. EXPANDSee also liable.

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Apt is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
Example Sentences
  • The query was prescient, the image apt.
  • The cost is apt to be high, regardless.
  • He's just as apt to tear up as blow up.
EXPAND
Dictionary.com Unabridged

apt.

plural apts.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Apt
Collins
World English Dictionary
apt (æpt)
 
adj
1.  suitable for the circumstance or purpose; appropriate
2.  (postpositive; foll by an infinitive) having a tendency (to behave as specified)
3.  having the ability to learn and understand easily; clever (esp in the phrase an apt pupil)
 
[C14: from Latin aptus fitting, suitable, from apere to fasten]
 
'aptly
 
adv
 
'aptness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

apt
late 14c., "suited, fitted, adapted," from L. aptus "fit, suited," pp. of *apere "to attach, join, tie to," from PIE base *ap- "to grasp, take, reach" (cf. Skt. apnoti "he reaches," L. apisci "to reach after, attain," Hitt. epmi "I seize"). Elliptical sense of "becoming, appropriate" is from 1560s; sense
EXPAND
of "habitually liable" is from 1520s.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

APT definition


1. Automatically Programmed Tools.
2. Audio Processing Technology.

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
APT
  1. admissions per thousand

  2. advanced personnel testing

  3. apartment

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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