Apprehend
Pronunciation
- US IPA: /æ.pɹiˈhɛnd/
- Rhymes: -ɛnd
Origin
From Old French apprehender (>
French appréhender), from Latin apprehendere. Compare Spanish aprender.
Full definition of apprehend
Verb
- (transitive, archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.
- unknown date, Jeremy Taylor.We have two hands to apprehend it.
- (transitive) To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.to apprehend a criminal.
- (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.
- unknown date, Thomas Fuller.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.
- unknown date William GladstoneThe eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them.
- 1922, w, The Declaration of Independence, Jefferson apprehended the injustice of slavery; but one is inclined to ask how deeply he felt it.
- (transitive) To anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
- unknown date -- Thomas Babington Macaulay.The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence.
- (intransitive) To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
- (intransitive) To be apprehensive; to fear.
- unknown date Rowe.It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.
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)