Portend vs Apprehend - What's the difference?
portend | apprehend | Related terms |
to serve as a warning or omen
* John Milton, Paradise Lost
to signify; to denote
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=June 26
, author=Genevieve Koski
, title=Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe
, work=The Onion AV Club
(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)
In transitive terms the difference between portend and apprehend
is that portend is to signify; to denote while apprehend is to anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.portend
English
Verb
(en verb)- A kingdom they portend thee, but what kingdom, / Real or allegoric, I discern not; Nor when: eternal sure--as without end,
- Let it be known that the Rapture portends the End of Days.
citation, page= , passage=When the staccato, Neptunes-ian single “Boyfriend” was released in March, musical prognosticators were quick to peg the album it portended , Believe, as Justin Bieber’s Justified, a grown-and-sexy, R&B-centric departure that evolved millennial teenybopper Justin Timberlake into one of the unifying pop-music figures of the aughts.}}
Synonyms
* foreshadow * presageSee also
* harbingerapprehend
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)
