From Middle Englishapel, appel(“formal accusation brought in court; a challenge to trial by combat; an appeal to a higher court or authority; plea (for mercy, protection, etc.); pealing (of bells)”)[and other forms],[1] from Old Frenchapel(“a call”) (modern Frenchappel(“a call; an appeal”)), from apeler(“to call; to call out”),[2] from Latinappellāre(“to address as, call by name; to drive, move to; to land or put ashore”), alternative form adpellāre, from ad-(prefix meaning ‘to; towards’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd(“at; to”)) + pellere(“to drive, impel, push; to hurl, propel; to banish, expel; to eject, thrust out”) + -āre, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European*pelh₂-(“to approach”), from *pel-(“to beat; to drive; to push”). Doublet of appel.
1793, John Comyns, Stewart Kyd, “Appeal”, in A Digest of the Laws of England.[…], 4th edition, volume I, Dublin: Luke White, →OCLC, page 515:
Anciently an appeal lay for high treaſon. […] But it ſeems to be taken away by the ſt[atute] 1 H[enry] 4. 14. And now, if murder be made treaſon, an appeal does not lie.
Ovld Iohn of Gaunt time honoured Lancaſter, / Haſt thou according to thy oath and bande / Brought hither Henrie Herford thy bolde ſonne, / Here to make good the boiſtrous late appeale, / Which then our leyſure would not let vs heare / Againſt the Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Moubray?
He made an appeal for volunteers to help at the festival.
1631, Francis [Bacon], “VIII. Century. [Experiments in Consort, Touching the Impressions, which the Passions of the Minde Make vpon the Body.]”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries.[…], 3rd edition, London: […]William Rawley[…]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee[…], →OCLC, paragraph 720, page 180:
As for the Caſting vp of the Eyes, and Lifting vp of the Hands, it is a kinde of Appeale to the Deity; Which is the Author, by Power, and Prouidence, of Strange Wonders.
All in their Turns accuſers, and accus'd: / Babel was never half ſo much confus'd. / What one can plead, the reſt can plead as well; / For amongſt equals lies no laſt appeal, / And all confeſs themſelves are fallible.
[W]hile they received the doctrine of the Trinity as an infinite mystery, far above their reason, they contended against that of transubstantiation as capable of being tried by human faculties, and as contradicted by an appeal to them.
[W]hen she lifted up / A face of sad appeal, and spake and said, / 'O Merlin, do you love me?' and again, / 'O Merlin, do you love me?' and once more, / 'Great Master, do you love me?' he was mute.
process which formerly might be instituted by one private person against another for some heinous crime demanding punishment for the particular injury suffered
call to, or the use of, a principle or quality for the purposes of persuasion
summons to defend one’s honour in a duel, or one’s innocence in a trial by combat
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From Middle Englishapelen, appelen(“to accuse; to make a formal charge before a court, etc., impeach; to challenge to trial by combat; to apply to a higher court or authority for review of a decision; to call upon for a decision, favour, help, etc.; to call by a name”)[and other forms],[3] from Old Frenchapeler(“to call; to call out”);[4] see further at etymology 1.
For if I [Jesus] be an offender, or haue committed any thing worthy of death, I refuſe not to die: but if there be none of theſe things whereof theſe accuſe me, no man may deliuer me vnto them. I appeale vnto Ceſar.
(transitive, originally US) To apply to a superior court or judge to review and overturn (a decision or order by an inferior court or judge).
The plaintiff appealed the decision to the appellate court.
The supreme court of Victoria has upheld a decision the transfer of juvenile detainees to an adult maximum security prison, where some of them spent Christmas Day, was unlawful. The [Daniel] Andrews government had appealed the original decision, which was handed down last week.
[1470–1485 (date produced), Thomas Malory, “Capitulum Tercium”, in [Le Morte Darthur], book XVIII (in Middle English), [London: […] by William Caxton], published 31 July 1485, →OCLC, leaf 365, recto; republished as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, Le Morte Darthur[…], London: David Nutt,[…], 1889, →OCLC, page 729, lines 12–17:
This ſhalle not ſo be ended ſaid ſyr Mador de la porte / for here haue I loſte a ful noble knyght of my blood / And therfore vpon this ſhame & deſpyte I wille be reuenged to the vtteraunce / and there openly ſir Mador appeled the quene of the dethe of his coſyn ſir patryſe /
This shall not so be ended, said Sir Mador de la Porte, for here have I lost a full noble knight of my blood. And therefore upon this shame and despite I will be revenged to the utterance. And there openly Sir Mador appealed the queen of the death of his cousin Sir Patryse.]
He gan that Ladie ſtrongly to appele / Of many haynous crymes by her enured, / And with ſharpe reaſons rang her ſuch a pele, / That thoſe, whom ſhe to pitie had allured, / He now t'abhorre and loath her perſon had procured.
And we are as willing to appeal to the Scripture as you.
a.1807, Samuel Horsley, “Sermon I. St. James v. 8. For the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”, in Sermons, volume I, New York, N.Y.: […] T. and J. Swords,[…], published 1811, →OCLC, page 2:
If I should sometimes have occasion, which will be but seldom, to appeal to the Scriptures in the original language, it will not be to impose a new sense upon the texts which I may find it to my purpose to produce, but to open and ascertain the meaning, where the original expressions may be more clear and determinate than those of our translation.
Among the claimants were the mightiest sovereigns of the continent: there was little chance that they would submit to any arbitration but that of the sword; and it could not be hoped that, if they appealed to the sword, other potentates who had no pretension to any part of the disputed inheritance would long remain neutral.
The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.
[…] I have friends, I have followers—man to man will I appeal the Norman to the lists; let him come in his plate and his mail, and all that can render cowardice bold; I have sent such a javelin as this through a stronger fence than three of their war shields!
to accuse or charge (someone) with wrongdoing — see accuse, charge
of a private person: to institute legal proceedings (against another private person) for some heinous crime
of the accomplice of a felon: to make an accusation at common law against (the felon)
to call upon a person or an authority to corroborate a statement, to decide a controverted question, or to vindicate one’s rights — see also entreat, invoke