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pertinent

UK/ˈpəːtɪnənt/US/ˈpɚtɪnənt/
adjectiveC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #7,753 of 15,258neutral

Pertinent means directly to the point being discussed. A pertinent question, pertinent information, highly pertinent.

It is formal and slightly stronger than relevant: pertinent implies the point bears directly on the matter rather than merely touching it. A pertinent question is one that goes to the heart of things. Note impertinent, which now means rude but literally means not pertinent — the sense of cheek came from asking questions that were none of your business.

Definitions of pertinent

  1. 1adjectivepertinentDirectly to the point being discussed.C1

    “Please keep your questions pertinent to today's topic.”

    synonyms: relevant, apposite

pertinent is a quality of relevance.

Where it comes from

Latin pertinens comes from pertinere, to reach or belong to — per plus tenere, to hold. Pertain, tenant and contain come from the same holding.

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *ten-

  2. Latin

    pertinēns

  3. Old French

    pertinent

  4. Middle English

    pertinent

  5. English, today

    pertinent

Middle English pertinent, borrowed from Old French pertinent and Latin pertinēns.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Academic English

Practise this word

pertinent in the wild

  • Relevant is something directly related, connected or pertinent to a topic; it may also mean something that is current.

    Relevant

  • Lawyers commonly use legal treatises in order to review the law and update their knowledge of pertinent primary authority namely, case law, statutes, and administrative regulations.

    Legal treatise

  • There can be danger in this because, while the forgotten information may not be pertinent in the current moment, it may be needed later.

    Selective retention

  • But a consequence of emotional memories having priority is that pertinent neutral information may be lost in the aftermath of an emotional event.

    Selective retention

  • Quietists, philosophers associated with The New Wittgenstein and anti-philosophy are all pertinent to the therapeutic approach.

    Therapeutic approach

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

  • impertinent