Penchant

How to spell penchant

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce penchant

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does penchant mean?

1. nounA strong and habitual liking or inclination for something.

Penchant in a sentence

• He has a penchant for expensive watches that strains his budget.

• Her penchant for arriving late annoyed the rest of the team.

Where does penchant come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes straight from French, where penchant is the present participle of the verb pencher, meaning 'to lean' or 'to incline'. That verb traces back through Vulgar Latin pendicare to the Latin pendere, which literally meant 'to hang' or 'to weigh', the same root that gives us 'pendulum' and 'pending'. The image behind the word is physical: a penchant is a way in which your tastes lean or tip in one direction, just as a body leans toward something it likes. English borrowed it in the seventeenth century and kept the French spelling and a hint of the French sound, which is exactly why the silent, French-looking 'ch' (pronounced like 'sh' or 'ch') and the unexpected '-ant' ending make it a spelling trap. Because the word never anglicised its look, writers must remember it is a leaning, not a 'pension' or a 'penchent'.

How the word is built

• pench- (from French pencher: to lean, incline)
• -ant (present participle suffix)