APPREHENSIONS
Noun
apprehensions
plural of apprehension
Source: Wiktionary
APPREHENSION
Ap`pre*hen"sion, n. Etym: [L. apprehensio: cf. F. appréhension. See
Apprehend.]
1. The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; as, the hand is an
organ of apprehension. Sir T. Browne.
2. The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest; as, the
felon, after his apprehension, escaped.
3. The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of
things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment;
intellection; perception.
Simple apprehension denotes no more than the soul's naked
intellection of an object. Glanvill.
4. Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.
Note: In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on
sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but
insufficient to induce certainty; as, in our apprehension, the facts
prove the issue.
To false, and to be thought false, is all one in respect of men, who
act not according to truth, but apprehension. South.
5. The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding; as, a man
of dull apprehension.
6. Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust or fear at
the prospect of future evil.
After the death of his nephew Caligula, Claudius was in no small
apprehension for his own life. Addison.
Syn.
– Apprehension, Alarm. Apprehension springs from a sense of danger
when somewhat remote, but approaching; alarm arises from danger when
announced as near at hand. Apprehension is calmer and more permanent;
alarm is more agitating and transient.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition