orexis means the affective and conative character of mental activity as contrasted with its cognitive aspect; the appetitive aspect of an act; desire, appetite.
orexis is pronounced /əˈɹɛksɪs/.
Why “orexis” is a great word
The affective and conative character of mental activity, encompassing desire and appetite, as contrasted with its cognitive aspect. From Latin orexis ("longing, appetite"), from Ancient Greek ὄρεξις (órexis, "desire"), from ὀρέγω (orégō, "to reach, stretch"), first attested in English 1610–20. Unlike "appetite" (which narrows to a physical craving, often for sustenance) or "volition" (which denotes the conscious faculty of choice and will), orexis names the raw, orienting pull toward a perceived good—the mind's fundamental striving. It is the lean of a sunflower toward the sun, the root's blind press through soil, the swimmer straining toward a shoreline still beyond the fog: the deep grammar of wanting that precedes and informs every deliberate act, a creature permanently in transit, always stretching toward something just past its grasp.
Etymology
From Latin orexis (“longing; appetite”), from Ancient Greek ὄρεξις (órexis, “desire”), from ὀρέγω (orégō, “to reach, stretch”).
noun
- The affective and conative character of mental activity as contrasted with its cognitive aspect; the appetitive aspect of an act; desire, appetite.“A sweet orexis rising in his cock, a blush of fever mixing tickles in his balls, Adriaan slid his briefs off and began to lay out the makings for supper.”
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