apperceive

[ ap-er-seev ]

See synonyms for apperceive on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),ap·per·ceived, ap·per·ceiv·ing.Psychology.

to have conscious perception of; comprehend.
to comprehend (a new idea) by assimilation with the sum of one's previous knowledge and experience.

Origin of apperceive

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English word from Old French word aperceivre.See ap-¹, perceive

Other words from apperceive

un·ap·per·ceived, adjective

Words Nearby apperceive

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use apperceive in a sentence

Spirits say they know such by their coldness, and that when they apperceive the cold they depart from them.
Earths In Our Solar System Which Are Called Planets, and Earths In The Starry Heaven Their Inhabitants, And The Spirits And Angels There | Emanuel Swedenborg
In this manner we accept the forms imposed upon us by utility, and train ourselves to apperceive their potential beauty.
The Sense of Beauty | George Santayana
Then the queen departed into her chamber so that no man should apperceive her great sorrows.
Chronicle and Romance (The Harvard Classics Series) | Jean Froissart, Thomas Malory, Raphael Holinshed
The housewife may apperceive old rags as something to be thrown away; a ragpicker, as something to be gathered up.
The Psychology of Salesmanship | William Walker Atkinson
From my perception, then, of hoof or sound I apperceive cow.
Applied Psychology for Nurses | Mary F. Porter

British Dictionary definitions for apperceive

apperceive

/ (ˌæpəˈsiːv) /

verb(tr)

to be aware of perceiving
psychol to comprehend by assimilating (a perception) to ideas already in the mind

Origin of apperceive

C19: from Old French aperceveir, from Latin percipere to perceive

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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