penchant

noun

Etymology: Unadapted borrowing from French penchant, present participle of pencher (“to tilt, to lean”), from Middle French, from Old French pengier (“to tilt, be out of line”), from Vulgar Latin *pendicāre, a derivative of Latin pendere (“to hang”).

1. Taste, liking, or inclination (for).

   “He has a penchant for fine wine.”

   “Marie even then began the course which, in after-years, secured her so vast an influence in the court,—alternately taking up and laying down her claim to the youthful monarch's penchant; administering to his amusement, and ready to encourage his passing fancies.”

2. A card game resembling bezique.
3. In the game of penchant, any queen and jack of different suits held at the same time.