Word of the Day

Sunday, June 09, 2002

penchant

\PEN-chunt\ , noun;

Inclination; decided taste; a strong liking.

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Quotes:

Ben was a dreamy little boy, recalls Hiddy, who always thought her brother's penchant for reveries might lead him to become an artist or a great philosopher.

-- Thomas Maier, Dr. Spock: An American Life

Field, in his personal comportment, maintained a penchant for austerity, a contempt for frivolity, and a "steely cold" disdain for any decision not based on fundamental business principles.

-- RolandMarchand, Creating the Corporate Soul

Even as an adolescent bookkeeper in a trading house in Cleveland, Rockefeller minutely recorded his charitable donations in ledgers, which confirm that from an early age he had a penchant for giving money no less than for making it.

-- Ron Chernow, "Mystery of the Generous Monopolist", New York Times, November 18, 1998

Origin:

Penchant comes from the present participle of French pencher, "to incline, to bend," from (assumed) Late Latin pendicare, "to lean," from Latin pendere, "to weigh."