Appeal
/əˈpiːl/noun
To request a higher authority to review or change a decision, or to attract interest or admiration.
Did you know?Appeal comes from Latin *appellare*, originally meaning to address, summon, or call upon—so the word’s oldest energy is literally about speaking power into authority.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pel-
“to drive, strike, push”
Latin
Latin
pellere
“to drive, push, thrust”
Latin
Latin
appellare
“to address, call upon, summon”
Old French
Old French
apeler
“to call, name, summon”
Middle English
English
apelen
“to call on, challenge to a higher court”
Modern English
English
appeal
“to ask for a decision to be reviewed or to strongly attract”