Apt, a
Etymology: [F. apte, L. aptus, fr. obsolete apere to fasten, to join, to fit, akin to apisci to reach, attain: cf. Gr. apta fit, fr. ap to reach attain.]
1. Fit or fitted; suited; suitable; appropriate. They have always apt instruments. Burke. A river . . . apt to be forded by a lamb. Jer. Taylor.
2. Having an habitual tendency; habitually liable or likely; -- used of things. My vines and peaches . . . were apt to have a soot or smuttiness upon their leaves and fruit. Temple. This tree, if unprotected, is apt to be stripped of the leaves by a leaf-cutting ant. Lubbock.
3. Inclined; disposed customarily; given; ready; -- used of persons. Apter to give than thou wit be to ask. Beau. & Fl. That lofty pity with which prosperous folk are apt to remember their grandfathers. F. Harrison.
4. Ready; especially fitted or qualified (to do something); quick to learn; prompt; expert; as, a pupil apt to learn; an apt scholar. "An apt wit." Johnson. Live a thousand years, I shall not find myself so apt to die. Shak. I find thee apt . . . Now, Hamlet, hear. Shak.
1 more senses
Syn. -- Fit; meet; suitable; qualified; inclined; disposed; liable; ready; quick; prompt.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Apt, v. t.
To fit; to suit; to adapt. [Obs.] " To apt their places." B. Jonson. That our speech be apted to edification. Jer. Taylor.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for apt; he lists it under clever, likely, sagacious, skilful.
Where he writes about it:
Apt implies a natural fitness or tendency; an impetuous person is apt to speak hastily. — from likely