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Pertain comes to English via Anglo-French from the Latin verb pertinēre, meaning "to reach to" or "to belong." Pertinēre, in turn, was formed by combining the prefix per- (meaning "through") and tenēre ("to hold"). Tenēre is a popular root in English words and often manifests with the -tain spelling that can be seen in pertain. Other descendants include abstain, contain, detain, maintain, obtain, retain, and sustain, to name a few of the more common ones. Not every -tain word has tenēre in its ancestry, though. Ascertain, attain, and certain are certainly exceptions. And a few tenēre words don't follow the usual pattern: tenacious and tenure are two.
Examples of pertain in a Sentence
Evan Mealins, The Tennessean, 13 July 2025
At the time, Kemosabe Records controlled the promotion, budgets, release, and other factors pertaining to her catalog, which included her first five studio albums from 2010’s Animal through 2023’s Gag Order.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 8 July 2025
Kesse credits the break in the case to his own team of investigators and new technology removing previous roadblocks pertaining to evidence.
—Julia Bonavita, FOXNews.com, 6 July 2025
Cincinnati spokesperson Mollie Lair said there are no records pertaining to penalties for violating the ordinances as no citations have been issued.
—Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Pertain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pertain. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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pertain
verb
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