appetite

Definitions

ad- (toward, assimilated to ap-) + petere (to rush) = a rushing *toward* something, especially food. Your appetite is your body's drive surging toward a meal.

Why It Means This

Because the literal image is simply 'desire aimed at a target,' English lifts appetite far beyond the dinner table: an appetite for risk, for power, for knowledge. Note the public idiom 'an appetite for' + noun — it signals a hunger strong enough to drive action, not just a mild preference.

Common Collocations

• 1.lose one's appetite没有食欲
• 2.whet the appetite勾起食欲/兴趣
• 3.a healthy appetite胃口很好
• 4.appetite for risk风险偏好
• 5.appetite for change求变的意愿

Example Sentences

• 1.

  All that swimming has given me a huge appetite.

• 2.

  Investors showed little appetite for risk this year.

• 3.

  The book whetted my appetite for travel.