apt

Etymology

From Old French apte, from Latin aptus, from obsolete apere (“to fasten, to join, to fit”), akin to apisci (“to reach, attain”); compare with Greek ἅπτειν (ἅptein, “to fasten”) and Sanskrit आप्त (āpta, “fit”), from आप् (āp, “to reach, attain”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /æpt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æpt

Adjective

apt (comparative apter or more apt, superlative aptest or most apt)

1. Suitable; appropriate; fit or fitted; suited.

   Tonight there’s a full moon, which is apt, since the election night will bring out the lunatics.

   • Jeremy Taylor (1613–1677)

     a river […] apt to be forded by a lamb

2. (of persons or things) Having a habitual tendency; habitually liable or likely; disposed towards.
   • William Temple (1628–1699)

     My vines and peaches […] were apt to have a soot or smuttiness upon their leaves and fruit.

   • John Lubbock (1834-1913)

     This tree, if unprotected, is apt to be stripped of its leaves by a leaf-cutting ant.

   • Fairfax Harrison (1869-1938)

     that lofty pity with which prosperous folk are apt to remember their grandfathers

3. Ready; especially fitted or qualified (to do something); quick to learn; prompt; expert

   a pupil apt to learn

   an apt scholar

   • (Can we date this quote?) Johnson

     An apt wit.

   • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

     (Although I) live a thousand years, I shall not find myself so apt to die.

Anagrams

• ATP, PAT, PTA, Pat, TAP, TPA, pat, tap

Alternative forms

• apa, apet

Verb

apt

1. past participle of ape