Appreciate Ap·pre"ci·ate transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Appreciated ;
present participle & verbal noun Appreciating .] [ Latin
appretiatus , past participle of
appretiare to value at a price, appraise;
ad +
pretiare to prize,
pretium price. Confer
Appraise .]
1. To set a price or value on; to estimate justly; to value. To appreciate the motives of their enemies.
Gibbon.
3. To raise the value of; to increase the market price of; -- opposed to depreciate . [ U.S.]
Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money.
Ramsay.
4. To be sensible of; to distinguish. To test the power of bees to appreciate color.
Lubbock.
Syn. -- To
Appreciate ,
Estimate ,
Esteem .
Estimate is an act of judgment;
esteem is an act of valuing or prizing, and when applied to individuals, denotes a sentiment of moral approbation. See
Estimate .
Appreciate lies between the two. As compared with
estimate , it supposes a union of sensibility with judgment, producing a nice and delicate perception. As compared with
esteem , it denotes a valuation of things according to their appropriate and distinctive excellence, and not simply their moral worth. Thus, with reference to the former of these (delicate perception), an able writer says. "Women have a truer
appreciation of character than men;" and another remarks, "It is difficult to
appreciate the true force and distinctive sense of terms which we are every day using." So, also, we speak of the difference between two things, as sometimes hardly
appreciable . With reference to the latter of these (that of valuation as the result of a nice perception), we say, "It requires a peculiar cast of character to
appreciate the poetry of Wordsworth;" "He who has no delicacy himself, can not
appreciate it in others;" "The thought of death is salutary, because it leads us to
appreciate worldly things aright."
Appreciate is much used in cases where something is in danger of being overlooked or undervalued; as when we speak of
appreciating the difficulties of a subject, or the risk of an undertaking. So Lord Plunket, referring to an "ominous silence" which prevailed among the Irish peasantry, says, "If you knew how to
appreciate that silence, it is more formidable than the most clamorous opposition." In like manner, a person who asks some favor of another is apt to say, "I trust you will
appreciate my motives in this request." Here we have the key to a very frequent use of the word. It is hardly necessary to say that
appreciate looks on the favorable side of things. we never speak of
appreciating a man's faults, but his merits. This idea of regarding things favorably appears more fully in the word
appreciative ; as when we speak of an
appreciative audience, or an
appreciative review, meaning one that manifests a quick perception and a ready valuation of excellence.
Apprehend Ap`pre·hend" (ăp`pre*hĕnd")
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Apprehended ;
present participle & verbal noun Apprehending .] [ Latin
apprehendere ;
ad +
prehendere to lay hold of, seize;
prae before +
-hendere (used only in comp.); akin to Greek
chanda`nein to hold, contain, and English
get : confer French
appréhender . See
Prehensile ,
Get .]
1. To take or seize; to take hold of. [ Archaic]
We have two hands to apprehend it.
Jer. Taylor.
2. Hence: To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest; as, to apprehend a criminal. 3. To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider. 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.
Fuller.
The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them.
Gladstone.
4. To know or learn with certainty. [ Obsolete]
G. You are too much distrustful of my truth.
E. Then you must give me leave to apprehend
The means and manner how.
Beau. & Fl.
5. To anticipate; esp., to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear. The opposition had more reason than the king to apprehend violence.
Macaulay.
Syn. -- To catch; seize; arrest; detain; capture; conceive; understand; imagine; believe; fear; dread. -- 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
apprehended 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
apprehended 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.
Apprehension Ap`pre·hen"sion noun [ Latin
apprehensio : confer French
appréhension . See
Apprehend .]
1. The act of seizing or taking hold of; seizure; as, the hand is an organ of apprehension . Sir T. Browne. 2. The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest; as, the felon, after his apprehension , escaped. 3. The act of grasping with the intellect; the contemplation of things, without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment; intellection; perception. Simple apprehension denotes no more than the soul's naked intellection of an object.
Glanvill.
4. Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea. » In this sense, the word often denotes a belief, founded on sufficient evidence to give preponderation to the mind, but insufficient to induce certainty; as, in our
apprehension , the facts prove the issue.
To false, and to be thought false, is all one in respect of men, who act not according to truth, but apprehension .
South.
5. The faculty by which ideas are conceived; understanding; as, a man of dull apprehension . 6. Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; distrust or fear at the prospect of future evil. After the death of his nephew Caligula, Claudius was in no small apprehension for his own life.
Addison.
Syn. --
Apprehension ,
Alarm .
Apprehension springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching;
alarm arises from danger when announced as near at hand.
Apprehension is calmer and more permanent;
alarm is more agitating and transient.