definitions

percipient

[ per-sip-ee-uh nt ]
/ pərˈsɪp i ənt /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR percipient ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

perceiving or capable of perceiving.
having perception; discerning; discriminating: a percipient choice of wines.

noun

a person or thing that perceives.

Nearby words

perchloroethane, perchloroethylene, perchloromethane, perchta, perciatelli, percipient, percival, perclose, percocet, percodan, percoid

Origin of percipient

1655–65; < Latin percipient- (stem of percipiēns) present participle of percipere to take in, equivalent to per- per- + -cipi- combining form of present stem of capere to take + -ent- -ent

Related forms

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

Examples from the Web for percipience

  • We consider indeed conditions for percipience, but only so far as those conditions are among the disclosures of perception.

    The Concept of Nature|Alfred North Whitehead

  • Nothing can be more certain than that, apart from percipience, there is no matter that matters.

    God and Mr. Wells|William Archer

  • And we now come to other cases, where the percipience has been collective, although it has not been repeated.

    Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death|Frederick W. H. Myers

British Dictionary definitions for percipience

percipient

/ (pəˈsɪpɪənt) /

adjective

able to perceive
perceptive

noun

a person or thing that perceives

Derived Forms

percipience, nounpercipiently, adverb

Word Origin for percipient

C17: from Latin percipiens observing, from percipere to grasp; see 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