apperceive

[ap-er-seev]

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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

Related formsun·ap·per·ceived, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for apperceive

notice, recognize, appreciate, perceive, experience, see, have, learn, realize, feel, regard, grasp, observe, identify, distinguish, discern, anticipate, think, understand, believe

Examples from the Web for apperceive

Historical Examples of apperceive

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
From my perception, then, of hoof or sound I apperceive cow.
Applied Psychology for Nurses
Mary F. Porter
On the contrary, they apperceive every experience and assign it to its place.
The Meaning of Truth
William James
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
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

British Dictionary definitions for apperceive

apperceive

verb (tr)

to be aware of perceiving

psychol to comprehend by assimilating (a perception) to ideas already in the mind

Word Origin for 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

Word Origin and History for apperceive

c.1300, from Old French apercevoir (see apperception). In modern psychological use, a back-formation from apperception. Related: Apperceived; apperceiving.