desiderium: Dictionary.com Word of the Day

Aug. 13, 2014

desiderium \des-i-DEER-ee-uhm\ noun 1. an ardent longing, as for something lost. Quotes I think as seldom as I can of what I loved or esteemed in it, to avoid the desiderium which of all things makes life most uneasy. -- Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Letter to Alexander Pope on June 28, 1715, The Works of Jonathan Swift, 1859 Origin Desiderium comes from the Latin verb dēsīderāre meaning "to long for; require." It entered English in the early 1700s.

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