What is the difference between apprehend and understand?
apprehend | understand | Synonyms |
(archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.
* (rfdate), .
To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.
To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.
* (rfdate), .
* (rfdate)
*
To anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
* (rfdate) -- .
To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
To be apprehensive; to fear.
* (rfdate) .
(material dates from 1913)(lb) To be aware of the meaning of.
:
:
*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
*:I understand not what you mean by this.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author=
, volume=189, issue=1, page=37, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To believe, based on information.
:
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
, title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=Foreword To impute meaning, character etc. that is not explicitly stated.
:
:In this sense, the word is usually used in the past participle:
::
*(John Locke) (1632-1705)
*:The most learned interpreters understood the words of sin, and not of Abel.
*
*:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
To stand under; to support.
:(Shakespeare)
Understand is a synonym of apprehend.
In transitive terms the difference between apprehend and understand
is that apprehend is to anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear while understand is to be aware of the meaning of.As verbs the difference between apprehend and understand
is that apprehend is to take or seize; to take hold of while understand is to be aware of the meaning of.apprehend
English
Verb
(en verb)- We have two hands to apprehend it.
- to apprehend a criminal .
- This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it.
- The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them.
- The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence.
- It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.
Usage notes
To apprehend, comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehend many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that he may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. We may apprehend much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters. --Trench.(material dates from 1913)
Derived terms
* apprehension * misapprehendSynonyms
* catch, seize, arrest, detain, capture, conceive, understand, imagine, believe, fear, dreadunderstand
English
Alternative forms
* understaund (obsolete)Verb
Sam Leith
Where the profound meets the profane, passage=Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths.}}
citation, passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War.