perceive

Alternative forms

perceave (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English perceyven, borrowed from Old French percevoir, perceveir, from Latin percipiō, past participle perceptus (“take hold of, obtain, receive, observe”), from per (“by, through”) + capiō (“to take”); see capable. Compare conceive, deceive, receive.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pəˈsiːv/
(General American) IPA^(key): /pɚˈsiv/
Audio (US): (file)
Rhymes: -iːv
Hyphenation: per‧ceive

Verb

perceive (third-person singular simple present perceives, present participle perceiving, simple past and past participle perceived)

(transitive) To become aware of, through the physical senses, to see; to understand.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 14:7:
  Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.
- 2012 March-April, Colin Allen, “Do I See What You See?”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 26 April 2012, page 168:
  Numerous experimental tests and other observations have been offered in favor of animal mind reading, and although many scientists are skeptical, others assert that humans are not the only species capable of representing what others do and don’t perceive and know.
To interpret something in a particular way.
John was perceived to be a coward by his comrades

Synonyms

ken

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

to become aware of

Arabic: أَدْرَكَ (ar) (ʔadraka), وَعَى (waʕā), فَهِمَ (ar) (fahima)
Belarusian: успрыма́ць impf (usprymácʹ), успрыйма́ць impf (uspryjmácʹ), успрыня́ць pf (usprynjácʹ)
Bulgarian: възприе́мам (bg) impf (vǎzpriémam), възприе́ма (bg) pf (vǎzpriéma), разби́рам (bg) impf (razbíram), разбера́ pf (razberá)
Catalan: percebre (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 察覺 / 察觉 (zh) (chájué), 感知 (zh) (gǎnzhī), 知覺 / 知觉 (zh) (zhījué)
Czech: vnímat (cs) impf
Danish: begribe
Dutch: waarnemen (nl)
Esperanto: percepti, senti
Estonian: tajuma
Finnish: huomata (fi), havaita (fi), tajuta (fi), oivaltaa (fi), hahmottaa (fi)
French: percevoir (fr)
Galician: percibir (gl)
German: wahrnehmen (de)
Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (fraþjan)
Greek: αντιλαμβάνομαι (el) (antilamvánomai)
Ancient: αἰσθάνομαι (aisthánomai), ὁράω (horáō) (+accusative and participle), μανθάνω (manthánō)
Hungarian: felfog (hu), észlel (hu)
Icelandic: skynja
Interlingua: perciper
Irish: airigh
Old Irish: airigidir
Italian: percepire (it)
Japanese: 知覚する (ja) (ちかくする, chikaku suru), 認める (ja) (みとめる, mitomeru), 気付く (ja) (きづく, kidzuku), 感知する (ja) (かんちする, kanchi suru)
Korean: 감지하다 (gamjihada), 지각하다 (jigakhada)
Latin: sāgiō, video (la), dispicio, dispecto
Macedonian: согледува impf (sogleduva), согледа pf (sogleda)
Maori: mau
Middle English: perceyven
Old English: onġietan
Persian: درک کردن (dark kardan)
Polish: dostrzegać (pl) impf, dostrzec (pl) pf
Portuguese: perceber (pt), entender (pt), compreender (pt)
Romanian: realiza (ro), pricepe (ro), înțelege (ro)
Russian: воспринима́ть (ru) impf (vosprinimátʹ), восприня́ть (ru) pf (vosprinjátʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: fairich
Slovak: vnímať (sk) impf
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: zawupytnuś pf, zawupytaś pf, markowaś impf, wumarkowaś pf
Spanish: percibir (es), entender (es)
Swahili: kutambua (sw)
Swedish: begripa (sv), uppfatta (sv), förnimma (sv)
Thai: รับรู้ (th) (ráp-rúu), เข้าใจ (th) (kâo-jai)
Turkish: algılamak (tr)
Ukrainian: сприйма́ти (uk) impf (spryjmáty), сприйня́ти pf (spryjnjáty)
Welsh: canfod (cy), dirnad (cy), amgyffred (cy), sylwi (cy), sylweddoli (cy)
Zazaki: şık berden, şok bıyayen, idrak kerden

References

“perceive”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.