penchant

Etymology

Borrowed from French penchant, present participle of pencher (“to tilt, to lean”), from Middle French, from Old French pengier (“to tilt, be out of line”), from Vulgar Latin *pendicāre, a derivative of Latin pendere (“to hang, to lean”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑːnʃɑn/, [ˈpɑ̃ʃɑ̃]
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛnt͡ʃənt/

Noun

penchant (countable and uncountable, plural penchants)

1. Taste, liking, or inclination (for).

   He has a penchant for fine wine.

2. (card games, uncountable) A card game resembling bezique.
3. (card games) In the game of penchant, any queen and jack of different suits held at the same time.

Noun

penchant m (plural penchants)

1. penchant

Verb

penchant

1. present participle of pencher

Further reading

• “penchant” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).