| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| desideratum |
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| SYLLABICATION: | de·sid·er·a·tum |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  d -sd  -r  tm, -rä- |
| NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. de·sid·er·a·ta (-t)
Something considered necessary or highly desirable: “The point is not that the artist has ‘penetrated the character’ of his sitter, that commonplace desideratum of portraiture” (Robert Hughes). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin d s dertum, from neuter past participle of dsderre, to desire. See desire.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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