PERCEPTION

sensing, perception

(noun) becoming aware of something via the senses

perception

(noun) the process of perceiving

perception

(noun) knowledge gained by perceiving; “a man admired for the depth of his perception”

perception

(noun) a way of conceiving something; “Luther had a new perception of the Bible”

percept, perception, perceptual experience

(noun) the representation of what is perceived; basic component in the formation of a concept

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

perception (countable and uncountable, plural perceptions)

The organisation, identification and interpretation of sensory information.

Conscious understanding of something.

Vision (ability)

Acuity

(cognition) That which is detected by the five senses; not necessarily understood (imagine looking through fog, trying to understand if you see a small dog or a cat); also that which is detected within consciousness as a thought, intuition, deduction, etc.

Synonyms

• ken

Anagrams

• preception

Source: Wiktionary


Per*cep"tion, n. Etym: [L. perceptio: cf. F. perception. See Perceive.]

1. The act of perceiving; cognizance by the senses or intellect; apperhension by the bodily organs, or by the mind, of what is presented to them; discernment; apperhension; cognition.

2. (Metaph.)

Definition: The faculty of perceiving; the faculty, or peculiar part, of man's constitution by which he has knowledge through the medium or instrumentality of the bodily organs; the act of apperhending material objects or qualities through the senses; -- distinguished from conception. Sir W. Hamilton. Matter hath no life nor perception, and is not conscious of its own existence. Bentley.

3. The quality, state, or capability, of being affected by something external; sensation; sensibility. [Obs.] This experiment discovereth perception in plants. Bacon.

4. An idea; a notion. [Obs.] Sir M. Hale.

Note: "The word perception is, in the language of philosophers previous to Reid, used in a very extensive signification. By Descartes, Malebranche, Locke, Leibnitz, and others, it is employed in a sense almost as unexclusive as consciousness, in its widest signification. By Reid this word was limited to our faculty acquisitive of knowledge, and to that branch of this faculty whereby, through the senses, we obtain a knowledge of the external world. But his limitation did not stop here. In the act of external perception he distinguished two elements, to which he gave the names of perception and sensation. He ought perhaps to have called these perception proper and sensation proper, when employed in his special meaning." Sir W. Hamilton.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 April 2025

WHOLE

(noun) an assemblage of parts that is regarded as a single entity; “how big is that part compared to the whole?”; “the team is a unit”


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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