PERCEIVE

perceive

(verb) become conscious of; “She finally perceived the futility of her protest”

perceive, comprehend

(verb) to become aware of through the senses; “I could perceive the ship coming over the horizon”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

perceive (third-person singular simple present perceives, present participle perceiving, simple past and past participle perceived)

(transitive) To become aware of, through the physical senses or by thinking; to see; to understand.

Synonyms

• ken

Source: Wiktionary


Per*ceive", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Perceived; p. pr. & vb. n. Perceiving.] Etym: [OF. percevoir, perceveir, L. percipere, perceptum; per (see Per-) + capere to take, receive. See Capacious, and cf. Perception.]

1. To obtain knowledge of through the senses; to receive impressions from by means of the bodily organs; to take cognizance of the existence, character, or identity of, by means of the senses; to see, hear, or feel; as, to perceive a distant ship; to perceive a discord. Reid.

2. To take intellectual cognizance of; to apprehend by the mind; to be convinced of by direct intuition; to note; to remark; to discern; to see; to understand. Jesus perceived their wickedness. Matt. xxii. 18. You may, fair lady, Perceive I speak sincerely. Shak. Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understandings, we are still in the dark. Locke.

3. To be affected of influented by. [R.] The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air here below. Bacon.

Syn.

– To discern; distinguish; observe; see; feel; know; understand.

– To Perceive, Discern. To perceive a thing is to apprehend it as presented to the senses or the intellect; to discern is to mark differences, or to see a thing as distinguished from others around it. We may perceive two persons afar off without being able to discern whether they are men or women. Hence, discern is often used of an act of the senses or the mind involving close, discriminating, analytical attention. We perceive that which is clear or obvious; we discern that which requires much attention to get an idea of it. "We perceive light, darkness, colors, or the truth or falsehood of anything. We discern characters, motives, the tendency and consequences of actions, etc." Crabb.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

12 November 2024

PLANTAIN

(noun) any of numerous plants of the genus Plantago; mostly small roadside or dooryard weeds with elliptic leaves and small spikes of very small flowers; seeds of some used medicinally


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

The New York Stock Exchange started out as a coffee house.

coffee icon