apprehensio

Forms

apprehēnsiō f (genitive apprehēnsiōnis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin apprehendō (“to seize; understand”) + -tiō.^[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is a Late Latin word.^[2] Köbler records it first in Caelius Aurelianus and Tertullian;^[3] Caelius Aurelianus (5th century AD) uses it for understanding and, translating Greek κατάληψις (katálēpsis), for a sudden fit of unconsciousness, catalepsy.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is a seizing or laying hold of: Macrobius uses it of grasping an altar,^[2][4] and Jerome of grasping the hair.^[5] In an Old Latin version of the Gospel of John it means the arrest of a captive.^[5]

Medieval Latin used it for the capture or arrest of a person, for observation or information, and for understanding.^[6] British documents also have it for taking possession of property, for the right of arrest, and for a share of the wergeld due to the next of kin.^[7] In Thomas Aquinas it is the grasping of something by a faculty of knowledge, perception.^[8] English borrowed it in the late 14th century as apprehension, “perception, comprehension”.^[9]

Timeline

• 5th century AD – Caelius Aurelianus uses it for understanding and for catalepsy.^[4][2][3]
• first half of the 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it for the grasping of an altar.^[2][3]
• 881 – It appears in a charter.^[3]
• late 14th century – English borrows it as apprehension.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A seizing, laying hold of.^[2][4]
2. Understanding, apprehension.^[2][4][6]
3. (medicine) Catalepsy, a sudden fit of unconsciousness.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) Capture, arrest.^[6][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) Observation, information.^[6]
6. (Medieval Latin) The taking possession of property.^[7]

Related words

• English apprehension

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
8. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com