apprehend
/ˌæpɹɪˈhend/a-prih-HEND
/ˌæpɹɪˈhɛnd/a-prih-HEND
Meaningto seize
Common meaning: to arrest
Other meanings: to understand
- apto, towards (form of ad-)
- prehendto grasp, seizeLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1440 · scan
‘to, towards (form of ad-)’ + ‘to grasp, seize’ → apprehend
Journey through time
- Aryan root · reconstructed√GHAD‘seize, get’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 107, p. 733 · scan
- Latinprehendō, prehēnsum‘to grasp, seize’
- Englishapprehend‘to arrest’ · today
ap- also in: appalapplyappeaseapplaudapprove
prehend also in: prisonsurprisecomprehendprehensile
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Latin prehendō ‘to grasp, seize’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry prehendō, p. 1440 · dictionary scan
Roots
- prehendō, prehēnsum Latin “to grasp, seize”
Related words
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app