apprehend

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Verb 1.3.1 Usage notes 1.3.2 Derived terms 1.3.3 Synonyms 1.3.4 Translations

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Old French apprehender (French: appréhender), from Latin apprehendere.

[edit] Pronunciation

• (WEAE) IPA: /æ.pɹiˈhɛnd/

[edit] Verb

to apprehend (third-person singular simple present apprehends, present participle apprehending, simple past and past participle apprehended)

1. (transitive, archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.

   We have two hands to apprehend it. -- Jeremy Taylor.

2. Hence: (transitive) To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal.
3. (transitive) To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.

   This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it. -- Thomas Fuller.

   The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them. --William Gladstone

4. (transitive) To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.

   The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence. -- Thomas Babington Macaulay.

5. (intransitive) To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
6. (intransitive) To be apprehensive; to fear.

   It is worse to apprehend than to suffer. --Rowe.

[edit] Usage notes

To Apprehend, Comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehend many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. We may apprehend much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters. --Trench.
(material dates from 1913)

[edit] Derived terms

• misapprehend

[edit] Synonyms

To catch; seize; arrest; detain; capture; conceive; understand; imagine; believe; fear; dread.

[edit] Translations