apprise

Etymology

It is borrowed from French appris, feminine apprise, the past participle of apprendre (“to learn, teach, inform”),^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} from Old French aprendre,^[8][2][9] from Latin apprēndō, a contraction of apprehendō (“to take hold of, grasp”),^[3][4][9] from ad- (“to”) and prehendō (“to seize”), whose base goes back to Proto-Indo-European *ghend- (“to seize, take”).^[8] The OED derives the verb from the French infinitive, on the analogy of comprise and surprise beside comprendre and surprendre;^[10] Weekley takes it from the feminine participle, which he calls a common process in English.^[7] The Old French verb's Anglo-Norman form is recorded from the early 12th century,^[11] and the Anglo-Norman Dictionary has a verb Anglo-Norman apriser (“to inform of”) from around 1300,^[11] but the OED treats the English word as a 17th-century formation.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

To inform, to give notice to: Merriam-Webster Unabridged dates the sense to 1680,^[2] and the OED and Barnhart have their first record in 1694, in Lord Delamere's Works.^[10][3] Etymonline and Dictionary.com agree on the 1690s or thereabouts.^[8][6]

Semantic evolution

The word's meaning was made before it reached English: the Latin verb had passed from laying hold of something to grasping it with the mind and learning it, and then, causatively, to teaching and informing.^[10][4] The Anglo-Norman verb already covered seizing, learning and teaching.^[11] English took only the last stage, and used it from the first for giving formal notice to someone.^[10] From 1712, in Steele, the passive could mean simply to be aware or to know,^[10][12] and the verb could be reflexive from before 1719, in Addison, like French s'apprendre.^[10] A use with the news rather than the person as object, to give notice of something, is recorded from 1817, in Byron, and is rare.^[10][2]

Timeline

• 1680 – to give notice to, to inform.^[2] The OED and Barnhart have this sense from 1694.^[10][3]
• 1712 – in the passive, to be informed or aware, in Steele.^[10]
• before 1719 – reflexive, in Addison.^[10]
• 1817 – to give notice of something, in Byron.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To inform a person or give notice to them, usually followed by of: The clerk apprised the tenants of the new rent.^{[13][2][6][10]}
2. In the passive, be apprised of: to be aware of or know something.^[12][10]
3. (rare) To give notice of a thing.^[10][2]

Word family

• unapprised

Related words

• apprehend
• apprentice
• appraise
• comprise
• surprise

Usage notes

Collins warns that appraise, to assess the value of something, is sometimes wrongly used where apprise is meant,^[13] and Dictionary.com lists the pair as easily confused.^[6] The spelling apprize is a less common variant of this verb,^[2][13] but Merriam-Webster Unabridged also enters apprize or apprise for a now obsolete verb meaning to put a value on, from Middle French aprisier.^[2][6] A noun apprise, meaning something learned or instruction, borrowed from Old French aprise, was used from 1303 to 1425; the OED says that it played no part in the formation of the verb.^[10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
12. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins