apprehend

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English

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WOTD – 9 January 2022

Etymology

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From Late Middle English apprehenden (“to grasp, take hold of; to comprehend; to learn”),[1] from Old French apprehender (modern French appréhender (“to apprehend; to catch; to dread”)), from Latin apprehendere, adprehendere, the present active infinitive of apprehendō, adprehendō (“to grab, grasp, seize, take; to apprehend, arrest; to comprehend, understand; to embrace, include; to take possession of, obtain, secure”), from ap-, ad- (prefix meaning ‘to’) + prehendō (“to grab, grasp, seize, snatch, take; to accost; to catch in the act, take by surprise; (figuratively, rare) of the mind: to apprehend, comprehend, grasp”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to hold, seize, take; to find”)).[2]

Pronunciation

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Verb

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

  1. (transitive)
    1. To be or become aware of (something); to perceive.
      • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of the Signification of Spirit, Angel, and Inspiration in the Books of Holy Scripture”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 3rd part (Of a Christian Common-wealth), page 212:
        […] Angel ſignifieth there, nothing but God himſelf, that cauſed Agar ſupernaturally to apprehend a voice from heaven; or rather, nothing elſe but a Voice ſupernaturall, teſtifying Gods ſpeciall preſence there.
      • 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 70:
        [A]s to the barrel [of gunpowder] that had been wet, I did not apprehend any Danger from that; ſo I plac'd it in my new Cave, which in my Fancy I call'd my Kitchin, and the reſt I hid up and down in Holes among the Rocks, ſo that no wet might come to it, marking very carefully where I laid it.
      • 1832, Charles Simeon, “[2 Kings.] The Hypocrisy of Gehazi.”, in Horæ Homilecticæ: Or Discourses (Principally in the Form of Skeletons) Now First Digested into One Continued Series, and Forming a Commentary upon Every Book of the Old and New Testament; […], volume III (Judges to Second Book of Kings), London: Holdsworth and Ball, […], →OCLC, page 500:
        From thy composure on the occasion it was evident, that thou expectedst to reap the fruit of thine iniquity in peace; and that, when thou repliedst, "All is well," thou apprehendedst no evil. But didst thou forget that God saw thee?
    2. To acknowledge the existence of (something); to recognize.
      • 1872, Robert Browning, Fifine at the Fair, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza 71, page 85:
        [E]ach man for his own sake / Accepts you as his guide, avails him of what worth / He apprehends in you to sublimate his earth / With fire: […]
    3. To take hold of (something) with understanding; to conceive (something) in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand.
      Synonyms: catch, get
      • 1569, [Reginald] Pole, chapter IIII, in [Thomas Copley?], transl., A Treatie of Iustification. […], Leuven: […] Ioannem Foulerum, →OCLC, 2nd book (Declaring the Second Danger), folio 41:
        If to apprehend Chriſte be vnderſtanded, to dvvell in Chriſte, and to haue him dvvell in vs, it is not true that Chriſte is apprehended in that ſorte, by onely faith vvithout charitie. […] He apprehendeth Chriſte truely, that cleaueth vnto Chriſt, and the glue vvhereby the ſovvle is fastned vnto Chriſte, ſaith S. Auguſtine, is charitie: […]
      • 1639, Thomas Fuller, “The Fatall Jealousies betwixt the King and Reimund Earl of Tripoli”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book II, page 100:
        This ſuſpicion of Earl Reimund, though at firſt but a buzze, ſoon got a ſting in the Kings head, and he violently apprehended it.
      • 1674, [Richard Allestree], “Of Boasting”, in The Government of the Tongue. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: At the Theater, →OCLC, page 168:
        We ſee in all things how deſuetude do's contract and narrow our faculties, ſo that we may apprehend only thoſe things wherein we are converſant.
      • 1684, John Bunyan, “ A Holy Life the Beauty of Christianity: Or, An Exhortation to Christians to be Holy”, in Henry Stebbing, editor, The Entire Works of John Bunyan, […], volume III, London: James S[prent] Virtue, […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 305, column 2:
        There are three things in faith that directly tend to make a man depart from iniquity. (1.) It apprehendeth the truth of the being, and greatness of God, and so it aweth the spirit of a man. (2.) It apprehendeth the love of this God in Christ, and so it conquereth and overcometh the spirit of a man. (3.) It apprehendeth the sweetness and blessedness of the nature of the godhead, and thence persuadeth the soul to desire here communion with him, that it may be holy, and the enjoyment of him when this world is ended, that it may be happy in and by him for ever.
      • 1922, Carl Becker, “The Literary Qualities of the Declaration”, in The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC, page 221:
        [Thomas] Jefferson apprehended the injustice of slavery; but one is inclined to ask how deeply he felt it.
    4. To have a conception of (something); to consider, to regard.
      Synonyms: believe, gather, reckon
      • c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 82, column 1:
        Tim[on]. That's a laſciuious apprehenſion. / Ape[mantus]. So, thou apprehend'ſt it, / Take it for thy labour.
      • 1639, Thomas Fuller, “The Corasines Cruelly Sack the City of Jerusalem and Kill the Christians therein”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book IV, page 183:
        In ſtead therefore of giving them a houſe, he ſent them to a work-houſe; yet ſo, that they apprehended it a great courteſie done unto them: For he beſtowed on them all the lands which the Chriſtians held in Paleſtine; […]
      • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of Dæmonology, and Other Reliques of the Religion of the Gentiles”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC, 4th part (Of the Kingdome of Darknesse), page 363:
        [A]t this day, the ignorant People, where Images are worſhipped, doe really beleeve there is a Divine Power in the Images; and are told by their Paſtors, that ſome of them have ſpoken; and have bled; and that miracles have been done by them; which they apprehended as done by the Saint, which they think either is the Image it ſelf, or in it.
      • 1858, W[illiam] E[wart] Gladstone, “Sect. I. On the Plot of the Iliad.”, in Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age. […], volume III, Oxford, Oxfordshire: University Press, →OCLC, part IV (Aoidos), page 393:
        […] Erinūs, who, in so many particular passages of the poems, makes miniature appearances in order to vindicate the eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them, likewise presides in full development over the general action of each of these extraordinary poems.
    5. To anticipate (something, usually unpleasant); especially, to anticipate (something) with anxiety, dread, or fear; to dread, to fear.
      • c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
        O let my Lady apprehend no feare, / In all Cupids pageant there is preſented no monſter.
      • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 76, column 2:
        Duke. Hath he borne himſelfe penitently in priſon? How ſeemes he to be touch'd? / Pro[vost]. A man that apprehends death no more dreadfully, but as a drunken ſleepe, careleſſe, wreakleſſe, and feareleſſe of what's paſt, preſent, or to come: inſenſible of mortality, and deſperately mortall.
      • 1642, Tho[mas] Browne, “The First Part”, in Religio Medici. […], 4th edition, London: […] E. Cotes for Andrew Crook […], published 1656, →OCLC, section 54, page 115:
        There is no ſalvation to thoſe that beleeve not in Chriſt, that is ſay ſome, ſince his Nativity, and as Divinity affirmeth, before alſo; which makes me much apprehend the ends of thoſe honeſt Worthies and Philoſophers which died before his incarnation.
      • 1749, Henry Fielding, “The Character of Mr. Square the Philosopher, and of Mr. Thwackum the Divine; with a Dispute Concerning ——”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume I, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III, page 168:
        [T]he Parſon had concluded his Speech with a triumphant Queſtion, to which he had apprehended no Anſwer; viz. Can any Honour exiſt independent on Religion?
      • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter II, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume I, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 260:
        The king determined to try once more the experiment of a dissolution [of parliament]. A new parliament was summoned to meet at Oxford, in March, 1681. […] The university was devoted to the crown; and the gentry of the neighbourhood were generally Tories. Here, therefore, the opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence.
    6. (archaic or obsolete, also figuratively) To seize or take (something); to take hold of.
      Synonym: catch
      • 1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner], Edward Topsell, “Of the Dogge”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 156:
        Nicias a certaine hunter going abroad in the woods, chaunced to fall into a heape of burning coales, hauing no helpe about him but his dogs, there he periſhed, yet they ranne to the high waies and ceaſed not with barking and apprehending the garments of paſſengers, to ſhew vnto them ſome direfull euent: and at laſt one of the trauailers followed the dogs, and came to the place where they ſaw the man conſumed, and by that coniectured the whole ſtory.
      • 1651, Jer[emy] Taylor, “Of Christian Sobriety”, in The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Francis Ashe […], →OCLC, section VI (Of Contentedness in All Estates and Accidents), page 134:
        When any thing happens to our diſpleaſure, let us endeavour to take of its trouble by turning it into ſpiritual or artificial advantage, and handle it on that ſide, in which it may be uſeful to the deſignes of reaſon. For there is nothing but hath a double handle, or at leaſt we have two hands to apprehend it.
    7. (law enforcement) To seize or take (a person) by legal process; to arrest.
      Synonyms: capture, detain
      Officers apprehended the suspect two streets away from the bank.
    8. (obsolete)
      1. To feel (something) emotionally.
        • 1592, Thomas Nash[e], Pierce Penilesse His Supplication to the Deuill. […], London: […] [John Charlewood for] Richard Ihones, […], →OCLC:
          [H]ow it worketh in the mindes and soules of them that haue no power to apprehend such felicitie, it is not for me to intimate, because it is preiudiciall to our monarchie.
        • 1605 (first performance), Beniamin Ionson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Volpone, or The Foxe. A Comœdie. […]”, in The Workes of Beniamin Ionson (First Folio), London: […] Will[iam] Stansby, published 1616, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 465:
          Pol[itic Would-Be]. Stone dead! / Per[egrine]. Dead. Lord! how deeply, ſir, you apprehend it? / He was no kinſman to you?
        • 1670, Izaak Walton, “The Life of Mr. Rich[ard] Hooker, the Author of Those Learned Books of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity”, in The Lives of Dr. John Donne, Sir Henry Wotton, Mr. Richard Hooker, Mr. George Herbert. […], volume III, London: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb for Rich[ard] Marriott, […], →OCLC, page 29:
          But the juſtifying of this Doctrine did not prove of ſo bad conſequence, as the kindneſs of Mrs. Churchmans curing him of his late Diſtemper and Cold; for that was ſo gratefully apprehended by Mr. Hooker, that he thought himſelf bound in conſcience to believe all that ſhe ſaid; […]
      2. To learn (something).
      3. (also figuratively) To take possession of (something); to seize.
  2. (intransitive)
    1. To be of opinion, believe, or think; to suppose.
      • 1614 November 10 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), Beniamin Iohnson [i.e., Ben Jonson], Bartholmew Fayre: A Comedie, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Robert Allot, […], published 1631, →OCLC, Act I, scene iiii, page 8:
        Sir, if you haue a minde to mocke him, mocke him ſoftly, and looke to'ther way: for if hee apprehend you flout him, once, he will flie at you preſently. A terrible teſtie old fellow, and his name is Waſpe too.
      • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LXXI. Mr. Hickman, to Miss Clarisa Harlowe. [Sent to Wilson’s by a Particular Hand.]”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume III, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 342:
        And ſince thou relieſt more on thy own precaution than upon my honour; be it unto thee as thou apprehendeſt, fair one!
    2. To understand.
    3. To be apprehensive; to fear.
      • c. 1700, Jean de La Bruyère, “No. CLXXXVI”, in translated by Nicholas Rowe, edited by [John Timbs], Laconics; or, The Best Words of the Best Authors. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Mathew] Carey, [Isaac] Lea & [Henry Charles] Carey […], published 1829, →OCLC, page 38:
        Death never happens but once, yet we feel it every moment of our lives. It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.
      • 1863, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Recollections of a Gifted Woman”, in Our Old Home: A Series of English Sketches, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 140:
        I sometimes apprehend that our institutions may perish before we shall have discovered the most precious of the possibilities which they involve.

Usage notes

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The words apprehend and comprehend both describe acts of the mind. However, while apprehend denotes grasping something mentally so as to understand it clearly, at least in part, comprehend denotes understanding something entirely. We may, thus, apprehend many ideas without comprehending them. For example, the very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. In The Study of Words (1851), Richard Chenevix Trench explained the difference thus: “[…] I read Hamlet, or King Lear: here I ‘apprehend’ much; I have wondrous glimpses of the poet’s intention and aim; but I do not for an instant suppose that I have ‘comprehended,’ taken in, that is, all that was in his mind in the writing”.[3]

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ “apprehenden, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Compare “apprehend, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2021; “apprehend, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ Richard Chenevix Trench (1851) “Lecture IV. On the Distinction of Words.”, in On the Study of Words: Five Lectures Addressed to the Pupils at the Diocesan Training School, Winchester, London: John W[illiam] Parker and Son, […], →OCLC, page 111.

Further reading

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