apprehend

英 [æprɪ'hend]美 [,æprɪ'hɛnd]
  • vt. 理解；逮捕；忧虑
  • vi. 理解；担心
CET6+ TEM8 GRE 低频词

中文词源

apprehend 抓住

前缀ap-同ad-. 前缀pre, 在前。词根hend, 得到，抓住，词源同get.

英文词源

apprehend
apprehend: [14] The underlying notion in apprehend is of ‘seizing’ or ‘grasping’; it comes ultimately from the Latin verb prehendere ‘seize’ (source also of comprehend, predatory, and prehensile). Latin apprehendere ‘lay hold of’, formed with the prefix ad-, developed the metaphorical meaning ‘seize with the mind’ – that is, ‘learn’; and that was the earliest meaning apprehend had in English when it was borrowed either directly from Latin or via French appréhender: John de Trevisa, for instance, in his translation of De proprietatibus rerum 1398 writes ‘he holds in mind … without forgetting, all that he apprehends’.

More familiar modern senses, such as ‘arrest’ and ‘understand’, followed in the 16th century. A contracted form of the Latin verb, apprendere, became Old French aprendre, modern French apprendre ‘learn’. This provided the basis for the derivative aprentis ‘someone learning’, from which English gets apprentice [14]; and its past participle appris, in the causative sense ‘taught’, was the source of English apprise [17].

The chief modern meaning of the derived noun apprehension, ‘fear’, arose via the notion of ‘grasping something with the mind’, then ‘forming an idea of what will happen in the future’, and finally ‘anticipation of something unpleasant’.
=> apprentice, comprehend, impregnable, predatory, prehensile
apprehend (v.)
mid-14c., "to grasp in the senses or mind," from Old French aprendre (12c.) "teach; learn; take, grasp; acquire," or directly from Latin apprehendere "to take hold of, grasp," from ad- "to" + prehendere "to seize" (see prehensile). Metaphoric extension to "seize with the mind" took place in Latin, and was the sole sense of cognate Old French aprendre (Modern French apprendre "to learn, to be informed about;" also compare apprentice). Original sense returned in English in meaning "to seize in the name of the law, arrest," recorded from 1540s, which use probably was taken directly from Latin. Related: Apprehended; apprehending.

双语例句

1. Only now can I begin to apprehend the power of these forces.
直到现在我才真正了解这些队伍的力量。
来自柯林斯例句
2. I apprehend no worsening of the situation.
我不担心局势会恶化.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. Do you apprehend any difficulty?
你担心会有困难 吗 ?
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4. At last I apprehend ed his meaning.
最后,我理解了他的意思.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
5. Are you sure you entirely apprehend the importance of completing these forms as accurately as possible?
你肯定你完全明白了尽可能准确地填写这些表格的重要性了 吗 ?
来自《简明英汉词典》