apprehensivus

Forms

apprehensivus (feminine apprehensiva, neuter apprehensivum); first/second-declension adjective.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin apprehendō (“to seize, grasp”), formed on the stem of its past participle with the suffix -īvus.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest checked record is in Thomas Aquinas' Summa contra Gentiles (1259–1265), where the intellect is “by nature apprehensive of universals”.^[5] The DMLBS also quotes it from J. Blund's treatise on the soul, of the sense of touch as apprehending the qualities of the elements.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In scholastic Latin it described a faculty able to grasp, perceive or know something, as opposed to the faculties that move or desire;^[1][2][5] the feminine was used as a noun for the faculty of apprehension, or for the imagination.^[2][1] Albertus Magnus has it often.^[1] Philosophers in Poland, Bohemia and Hungary used it in the same sense,^[3][6][7] and Boccaccio still uses it.^[8]

English borrowed it in the late 14th century as apprehensive, “able to perceive”; the English sense “fearful of what is to come” developed only in the 1630s.^[4]

Timeline

• 1259–1265 – Thomas Aquinas, in the Summa contra Gentiles, calls the intellect apprehensive of universals.^[5]
• late 14th century – Borrowed into English as apprehensive.^[4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Able to apprehend, perceive or know; belonging to the cognitive faculties.^[1][2][5]
2. (Medieval Latin, philosophy, as a feminine noun, understood as virtus) The faculty of apprehension; the imagination.^[2][1]
3. (Medieval Latin, as a neuter noun) Perception.^[1]

Related words

• apprehensio
• English apprehensive

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
2. ^ a b c d e f 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
3. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
6. ^ Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
7. ^ Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
8. ^ Ramminger, Johann, Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, www.neulatein.de