Apprehend, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Apprehended; p. pr. & vb. n. Apprehending.]
Etymology: [L. apprehendere; ad + prehendere to lay hold of, seize; prae before + -hendere (used only in comp.); akin to Gr. get: cf. F. appréhender. See Prehensile, Get.]
1. To take or seize; to take hold of. [Archaic] We have two hands to apprehended it. Jer. Taylor.
2. Hence: To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal.
3. To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider. This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it. Fuller. The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them. Gladstone.
4. To know or learn with certainty. [Obs.] G. You are too much distrustful of my truth. E. Then you must give me leave to apprehend The means and manner how. Beau. & Fl.
2 more senses
5. To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear. The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence. Macaulay.
Syn. -- To catch; seize; arrest; detain; capture; conceive; understand; imagine; believe; fear; dread. -- To Apprehend, Comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehended many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. "We may apprehended much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters." Trench.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Apprehend, v. i.
1. To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
2. To be apprehensive; to fear. It is worse to apprehend than to suffer. Rowe.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for apprehend; he lists it under anticipate, arrest, catch, perceive.
Where he writes about it:
We apprehend what we both expect and fear. — from anticipate
In the figurative sense, catch is used of any act that brings a person or thing into our power or possession; as, to catch a criminal in the act; to catch an idea, in the sense of apprehend or comprehend. — from catch
We apprehend what is presented to the mind, whether through the senses or by any other means. — from perceive
Yet perceive is used in the figurative sense of seeing through to a conclusion, in a way for which usage would not allow us to substitute apprehend; as, "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet," John iv, 19. — from perceive
That which we apprehend we catch, as with the hand; that which we conceive we are able to analyze and recompose in our mind; that which we comprehend, we, as it were, grasp around, take together, seize, embrace wholly within the mind. — from perceive
Many things may be apprehended which can not be comprehended; a child can apprehend the distinction between right and wrong, yet the philosopher can not comprehend it in its fulness. — from perceive
We can apprehend the will of God as revealed in conscience or the Scriptures; we can conceive of certain attributes of Deity, as his truth and justice; but no finite intelligence can comprehend the Divine Nature, in its majesty, power, and perfection. — from perceive