Word for Wednesday: Desire

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Our Word for Wednesday theme for February is Valentine’s Day. 

Originally a Christian feast day for St. Valentine, Valentine’s Day in now celebrated all over the world on February 14th. The day is a dedication to all things love and romance. 

The word Valentine has been used since the fifteenth century to describe the person one chooses to spend Valentine’s Day with. It was first used to describe a card or letter sent on Valentine’s Day in 1824. 

Over February we’ve looked at the words Cupid, sweetheart, and romance. Our final word for the month is desire. 

Desire is a strong feeling of wishing or attraction. 

The word has been used in reference to a wish or yearning since around 1300 and to describe the act of yearning since around 1200. Desire comes from the Old French ‘desirrer’, from the Latin ‘desiderare’ meaning ‘to long for’ or ‘to expect’. ‘Desiderare’ possibly comes from the phrase ‘de sidere’ meaning ‘from the stars’, the idea being that one’s fate and fortune depends on the stars.


23 Feb 2022
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