appeal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈpiːl/^[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English appelen (“to accuse, appeal”),^[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman apeler (“to call upon, accuse”), Old French apeler,^[2][4] from Latin appellāre (“to accost, address, appeal to, summon, name”),^[2][4] an iterative of appellere “to drive to”,^[2][4][3] from ad- “to” and pellere (“to beat, push, drive”),^[2][4] from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to thrust, strike, drive”).^[2] It was probably a Roman extension of a nautical term for driving a ship toward a landing.^[2] The noun is from Old French apel, from the verb.^[2][4] The spelling -eal comes from 16th-century spelling reform.^[4] It is related to peal, compel, repel and pulse.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, the taking of a case to a higher court, is from 1297 in the OED^[6] and about 1300 in Etymonline and Barnhart.^[2][4] The verb, in the same legal sense, is from the early 14th century,^[2] before 1338 in Barnhart.^[4]

Semantic evolution

In early law the verb also meant to accuse of a heinous crime (1366) and to challenge to defend oneself by combat (about 1400).^[6] A call to an authority for a decision is from the 1620s,^[2] and in cricket a call to the umpire from 1844.^[6] An earnest request or entreaty is from 1859.^[6] “To address oneself in expectation of a sympathetic response” is from 1794,^[2] which led to the popular modern sense “to be attractive or pleasing”, attested from 1907, with appealing in this sense from 1891.^[2] The noun “attractive power” is attested by 1904.^[2] The word peal is a shortening of appeal, perhaps from the call to prayer of a bell.^[5]

Timeline

• 1297 – noun, a legal appeal.^[6]
• early 14th century – verb, to appeal to a higher court.^[2]
• 1366 – to accuse.^[6]
• 1620s – a call to an authority.^[2]
• 1844 – in cricket.^[6]
• 1859 – an entreaty.^[6]
• 1904 – attractive power.^[2]
• 1907 – to be attractive.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An earnest or urgent request; an entreaty.
2. A resort to a higher authority for a decision or support.
3. The transfer of a case to a higher court for review, or a request for it.
4. The power to attract or interest: the appeal of city life.

Verb

1. To make an earnest request, as for help.
2. To have recourse; to resort.
3. To apply to a higher court for review of a decision.
4. To be attractive or interesting.

Word family

• appealability
• appealable
• appealer
• unappealed
• reappeal
• curb appeal
• sex appeal

Related words

• appellant
• appellate
• appellee
• appellor
• peal
• compel
• repel
• expel
• propel
• pulse

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press