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