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Origin and history of appeal

appeal(v.)

early 14c., appelen, originally in the legal sense, to "call" to a higher judge or court, from Anglo-French apeler "to call upon, accuse," Old French apeler "make an appeal" (11c., Modern French appeler), from Latin appellare "to accost, address, appeal to, summon, name," iterative of appellere "to prepare," from ad "to" (see ad-) + pellere "to beat, push, drive" (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to thrust, strike, drive").

Probably a Roman metaphoric extension of a nautical term for "driving a ship toward a particular landing." The popular modern meaning "be attractive or pleasing" is attested from 1907 (appealing in this sense is from 1891), extended from the sense of "address oneself in expectation of a sympathetic response" (1794). Related: Appealed.

appeal(n.)

c. 1300, "proceeding taken to reverse a decision by submitting it to the review of a higher authority," from Old French apel "call, appeal in court" (Modern French appel), back-formation from apeler "call upon" (see appeal (v.)). The meaning "a call to an authority" is from 1620s; that of "attractive power" attested by 1904.

also from c. 1300

Entries linking to appeal

appealing(adj.)

1590s, "suppliant, applying to a higher authority," present-participle adjective from appeal (v.). The sense of "attractive" is attested by 1854. Related: Appealingly.

appellant(n.)

"one who appeals from a lower to a higher court," 1610s, from Anglo-French, French appellant, noun use of present participle of French appeller "make an appeal" (Old French apeler), from Latin appellare "appeal to" (see appeal (v.)).

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appellation
"designation, name given to a person, thing, or class," mid-15c., from Old French apelacion "name, denomination" (12c.), from Latin appellationem (nominative appellatio) "an addressing, accosting; an appeal; a name, title," noun of action from past-participle stem of appellare "a
peal
mid-14c., pele, "a ringing of a bell" especially as a call to church service; generally considered a shortened form of appeal (n.), with the notion of a bell that "summons" people to church (compare similar evolution in peach (v.)). Middle English pele also had the sense of "an a
attract
early 15c., attracten, "draw (objects or persons) to oneself," also a medical term for the body's tendency to absorb fluids, nourishment, etc., or for a poultice treatment to "draw out" diseased matter; from Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere "to draw, pull; to attract
exhortation
late 14c., exhortacioun, "incitement by means of argument, appeal, or admonition; the argument or appeal made," from Old...
interpellation
late 15c., "an appeal" (obsolete), from Latin interpellationem (nominative interpellatio) "an interruption," noun of action...
orison
Modern French oraison) "oration," from Latin orationem (nominative oratio) "speech, oration," in Church Latin "prayer, appeal...
plaudit
This was the customary appeal for applause that Roman actors made at the end of a play....
catch
c. 1200, "to take, capture," from Anglo-French or Old North French cachier "catch, capture" animals (Old French chacier "hunt, pursue, drive" animals, Modern French chasser "to hunt"), from Vulgar Latin *captiare "try to seize, chase" (also source of Spanish cazar, Italian caccia
Catch-22
from the title of Joseph Heller's 1961 novel, but the phrase became widespread after release of the movie based on the book in 1970. The catch (n.) is that a bomber pilot is insane if he flies combat missions without asking to be relieved from duty, and thus he is eligible to be
quest
c. 1300, "an inquest, a judicial inquiry;" early 14c., "a search for something, the act of seeking, pursuit" (especially in reference to hounds seeking game in the hunt), from Old French queste "search, quest, chase, hunt, pursuit; inquest, inquiry" (12c., Modern French quête), p

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