receive

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rɪˈsiːv/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English resceiven, receiven,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French receivre (“to seize, take hold of; to welcome, accept”), the Old North French form of Old French reçoivre, later recevoir,^[4][2][5] from Latin recipere (“to take back, recover; to take to oneself, admit”),^[4][2] from re- (“back”) and capere (“to take”),^[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“to grasp”).^[4] The same Latin verb is the source of recipe and recipient.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To take something offered or sent into one's possession: before 1300, in Guy of Warwick,^[2][7] about 1300 in Etymonline, also of the sacrament.^[4]

Semantic evolution

“To welcome in a particular way” is from about 1300,^[4] to catch in the manner of a receptacle from the early 14th century,^[4] and to obtain as a reward from the mid-14th century.^[4] In the late 14th century the verb came to mean “to accept as authoritative or true”, as in received wisdom, and “to have a blow or wound inflicted”.^[4] To listen or give heed is from 1388,^[7] and to take in stolen goods from 1583.^[7] The radio sense, and later the television sense, is from 1908.^[4] Middle English also had the verb recept, “to receive”, from the same Latin word.^[4] Receivable is from before 1382 and receiver from the 14th century.^[2][5]

Timeline

• before 1300 – to take into one's possession.^[2][7]
• c. 1300 – to welcome.^[4]
• before 1382 – receivable.^[2]
• late 14th century – to accept as true; to suffer a blow.^[4]
• 1583 – to take in stolen goods.^[7]
• 1908 – to receive radio signals.^[4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To get or be given something; to acquire.
2. To greet or welcome guests; to admit to a group.
3. To experience or suffer: receive an injury.
4. To react to in a certain way: the speech was well received.
5. To convert incoming radio or television signals into sound or pictures.
6. To take in and pass on stolen goods.
7. To take the Eucharist.

Word family

• receiving blanket
• receiving line

Related words

• receivable
• receiver
• receivership
• reception
• receptionist
• receipt
• receptive
• receptacle
• recipient
• recipe
• capture

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press