Hanker
/ˈhæŋ.kər/noun
To feel a strong or persistent desire for something.
Did you know?Its origin is uncertain, but many scholars connect it to a dialectal sense of lingering or hanging around, which is why it feels like desire that just won’t let go.
Etymological Timeline
Early Modern English
English
hanker
“To long for something intensely; to persistently desire”
16th–17th Century
English
hankeren
“To keep hanging about; to linger or loiter”
Middle English
English
hangen
“To hang, suspend, or remain fixed”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hangijaną
“To hang”