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Apprehend

 - 4 dictionary results

ap⋅pre⋅hend

  [ap-ri-hend]
Use Apprehend in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to take into custody; arrest by legal warrant or authority: The police apprehended the burglars.
2. to grasp the meaning of; understand, esp. intuitively; perceive.
3. to expect with anxiety, suspicion, or fear; anticipate: apprehending violence.
–verb (used without object)
4. to understand.
5. to be apprehensive, suspicious, or fearful; fear.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME apprehenden < L apprehendere to grasp, equiv. to ap- ap- 1 + prehendere to seize (pre- pre- + -hendere to grasp)

Related forms:
ap⋅pre⋅hend⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Apprehend
ap·pre·hend   (āp'rĭ-hěnd')   
v.   ap·pre·hend·ed, ap·pre·hend·ing, ap·pre·hends

v.   tr.

  1. To take into custody; arrest: apprehended the murderer.

  2. To grasp mentally; understand: a candidate who apprehends the significance of geopolitical issues.

  3. To become conscious of, as through the emotions or senses; perceive.

v.   intr.
To understand something.

[Middle English apprehenden, from Old French apprehender, from Latin apprehendere, to seize : ad-, ad- + prehendere, to grasp; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]
ap'pre·hend'er n.
Synonyms: These verbs denote perception of the nature and significance of something. Apprehend denotes both mental and intuitive awareness: "Intelligence is quickness to apprehend" (Alfred North Whitehead).
Both comprehend and understand stress complete realization and knowledge: "To comprehend is to know a thing as well as that thing can be known" (John Donne). "No one who has not had the responsibility can really understand what it is like to be President" (Harry S. Truman).
To grasp is to seize an idea firmly: "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount" (Omar N. Bradley).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

apprehend 
1398, from O.Fr. apprehender, from L. apprehendere "to take hold of, grasp," from ad- "to" + prehendere "to seize" (see prehensile). Metaphoric extension in L. to "seize with the mind," which was the sense of the word in O.Fr. Originally sense returned in meaning "to seize in the name of the law, arrest," recorded from 1548, which was probably taken directly from L. Apprehensive "anticipative of something adverse" first recorded 1633.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: ap·pre·hend
Pronunciation: "a-pr&-'hend
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Latin apprehendere to seize, arrest, from ad to + prehendere to seize
: ARREST
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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