perceive

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English perceiven,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman perceivre, also parceivre,^[5][6][2] a variant of Old French perçoivre,^[7][8][9] now percevoir,^[8][7][10] inherited from Latin percipiō (“to take possession of, obtain; to grasp with the mind”),^{[5][2][4][11]} from per- (“thoroughly”) and capiō (“to take, seize”),^{[5][2][3][12]} from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).^[2][3] The Anglo-Norman verb is recorded from the first third of the 12th century, meaning to obtain or receive as well as to perceive, notice and catch sight of;^[6] the OED dates it to the mid 12th century.^[5] Compare Old Occitan percebre, Catalan percebre, Spanish percibir and Italian percepire.^[5] In some Middle English spellings, such as perceipue, the p was restored after the Latin.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

To apprehend with the mind, to become aware of; and to take in through the senses, especially sight: both about 1330, in the romances Amis and Amiloun and Bevis of Hampton.^[5] Barnhart finds percyven, to see or observe, probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder, and the sense "become aware of" about 1300.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The Latin verb meant both to take hold of something physically and to grasp it with the mind, and both senses passed into Old French,^[2][5] but English used the word almost only for the mental sense.^[2] It replaced the Old English verb ongietan.^[2] Middle English did use the physical sense for a time: to receive rents and dues (from about 1382 to 1680) and to receive or obtain in general (until 1746).^[5][13][8] Other early senses died out too: to listen carefully (until 1554), to understand fully (until 1600) and to see through something hidden (until 1691).^[5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to discover by some sensible effects" and "to know; to observe".^[14] The use with as, to regard or interpret in a particular way, is dated by the Shorter Oxford to the early 19th century^[7] and by the OED to 1884.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1300 – percyven, to see or observe.^[11]
• c. 1330 – to become aware of; to perceive through the senses.^[5]
• c. 1382 – to receive rents or dues; to listen carefully (both obsolete).^[5][13]
• c. 1387 – to understand fully (obsolete by 1600).^[5]
• 1755 – Johnson: to discover by some sensible effects.^[14]
• 1884 – to regard or interpret in a particular way.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To become aware of something through the senses, especially by sight: She perceived a faint light at the end of the corridor.
2. To come to understand or realize; to discern: He soon perceived that the plan would fail.
3. To regard or interpret in a particular way, often with as: The tax was perceived as unfair.

Word family

• perceivable
• perceivably
• perceiver
• nonperceiving
• unperceiving
• misperceive

Related words

• perception
• percept
• perceptive
• apperceive
• receive
• conceive
• deceive
• capture

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
14. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.