appréhender

Forms

appréhender^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin apprehendō (“to seize”),^{[2][3][4][5][1]} formed from ad- and prehendō (“to take, seize”);^[2][5][6] in Late Latin the verb took on the abstract sense “to grasp with the mind” that the simple verb had.^[2][3] It is the learned doublet of apprendre, which was inherited.^[2][1] Littré notes that the verb is recent in French: an old word would have had the form ⟨apprehendre⟩.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded from the 13th century,^[3][4][5] at first in the concrete sense “to take, seize”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense survived in law, “to arrest” (1460), and in appréhender au corps “to seize bodily, arrest”.^[2][5][7] The abstract sense “to grasp with the mind, understand, conceive” is from the 16th century, as in Montaigne,^[2][7] and Littré traces the line from seizing with the hands to seizing with the mind, then to foreseeing and so to fearing.^[7] The sense “to think about a danger, to fear” followed in 1587,^[2] and is now the usual one;^[5] Bloch and Wartburg place this shift in the 16th century, the Petit Robert in the 17th.^[3][5] The noun appréhension (1265) went through the same development.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 13th century – First record.^[3][4][5]
• 1265 – The noun appréhension is borrowed.^[2]
• 1460 – It means “to arrest”.^[2]
• 16th century – Montaigne uses it for “to understand”.^[2][7]
• 1587 – The sense “to fear” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To dread, to look ahead to something with fear or worry: Il appréhende son entretien d'embauche, j'appréhende de le revoir.^[5][7][1]
2. (law) To seize someone bodily, to arrest: Les gendarmes ont appréhendé le voleur.^[5][8][7]
3. (philosophy, literary) To grasp with the mind, to apprehend: appréhender une idée.^[5][8]
4. (rare) To seize something with the hands.^[9]

Related words

• appréhension
• apprendre
• prendre
• Latin apprehendō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 50b
7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard