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aptness

 - 3 dictionary results

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; ME (< AF) < L aptus fastened, fitted, fitting, appropriate, equiv. to ap- fasten, attach + -tus ptp. suffix


aptly, adverb
aptness, noun


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. See also liable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To aptness
apt   (āpt)   
adj.  
  1. Exactly suitable; appropriate: an apt reply.

  2. Having a natural tendency; inclined: She is apt to take offense easily. See Usage Notes at liable, likely.

  3. Quick to learn or understand: an apt student.


[Middle English, from Old French apte, from Latin aptus, past participle of apere, to fasten.]
apt'ly adv., apt'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

apt 
1398, "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," Hitt. epmi "I seize"). Elliptical sense of "becoming, appropriate" is from 1563; sense of "habitually liable" is from 1528.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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