orexis

English

Etymology

From Latin orexis (“longing; appetite”), from Ancient Greek ὄρεξις (órexis, “desire”), from ὀρέγω (orégō, “I reach, stretch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈɹɛksɪs/

Noun

orexis (plural orexes)

1. (psychology) The affective and conative character of mental activity as contrasted with its cognitive aspect; the appetitive aspect of an act; desire, appetite.
   • 1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!:

     A sweet orexis rising in his cock, a blush of fever mixing tickles in his balls, Adriaan slid his briefs off and began to lay out the makings for supper.

Related terms

• orectic
• orexigenic
• anorexigenic

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /oˈrek.sis/, [ɔˈrɛks̠ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /oˈrek.sis/, [oˈrɛksis]

Noun

orexis f (genitive orexis); third declension

1. a longing
2. an appetite

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	orexis	orexēs
Genitive	orexis	orexium
Dative	orexī	orexibus
Accusative	orexem	orexēs orexīs
Ablative	orexe	orexibus
Vocative	orexis	orexēs

References

• “orexis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “orexis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• orexis in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• orexis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.