Belonging or relating to something; appropriate or relevant to a particular matter.
From Old French 'apertinent,' related to 'appertenir' (to appertain). Similar in formation to 'pertinent,' but preserving the older prefix 'ap-' instead of the modern 'per-.'
This is basically an archaic form of 'pertinent'—medieval English speakers used this, but we simplified it over time. You might spot it in very old texts where it means 'relevant' or 'belonging to the matter.'
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