PERCEIVE • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Perceive

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/pərsˈiv/ Listen

verb

Perceive v. t. (past & past part. perceived; pres. part. perceiving)

1.

To obtain knowledge of through the senses; to receive impressions from by means of the bodily organs; to take cognizance of the existence, character, or identity of, by means of the senses; to see, hear, or feel; as, to perceive a distant ship; to perceive a discord.

2.

To take intellectual cognizance of; to apprehend by the mind; to be convinced of by direct intuition; to note; to remark; to discern; to see; to understand. "Jesus perceived their wickedness." "You may, fair lady, Perceive I speak sincerely." "Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understandings, we are still in the dark."

3.

To be affected of influented by. (R.) "The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air here below."

Synonyms: To discern; distinguish; observe; see; feel; know; understand. To Perceive, Discern. To perceive a thing is to apprehend it as presented to the senses or the intellect; to discern is to mark differences, or to see a thing as distinguished from others around it. We may perceive two persons afar off without being able to discern whether they are men or women. Hence, discern is often used of an act of the senses or the mind involving close, discriminating, analytical attention. We perceive that which is clear or obvious; we discern that which requires much attention to get an idea of it. "We perceive light, darkness, colors, or the truth or falsehood of anything. We discern characters, motives, the tendency and consequences of actions, etc."

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Etymology of 'Perceive'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Perceive" Quotes from Famous Books

... measures out a certain space, then stops for ever. We see him move upon the earth, hear him click, and perceive in his face the uses of intelligence. His external appearance will inform us whether he is old-fashioned, in which case, he is less valuable upon every gambling calculation. His face also will generally inform us whether all is right within. This curious ...

— An History of Birmingham (1783) • William Hutton

... was told to CAPTAIN TODD, At first he thought it rather odd, And felt some perturbation; But very long he did not grieve, He thought he could a way perceive ...

— The Bab Ballads • W. S. Gilbert

... was well understood by all the boys who knew him, and Peter would not have ventured to speak as he did, but he did not at first perceive that Jimmy was accompanied by his brother. When he did discover it he slunk away as soon ...

— Slow and Sure - The Story of Paul Hoffman the Young Street-Merchant • Horatio Alger

... standard. But surely they underrated the public danger. Falkland is commonly selected as the most respectable specimen of this class. He was indeed a man of great talents and of great virtues but, we apprehend, infinitely too fastidious for public life. He did not perceive that, in such times as those on which his lot had fallen, the duty of a statesman is to choose the better cause and to stand by it, in spite of those excesses by which every cause, however good in itself, will be disgraced. The present evil always seemed to him the worst. He was always ...

— Critical and Historical Essays Volume 1 • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... angels on this subject, and they have invariably declared that in heaven they are unable to divide the Divine into three, because they know and perceive that the Divine is One and this One is in the Lord. They also said that those of the church who come from this world having an idea of three Divine beings cannot be admitted into heaven, since their thought wanders from one Divine being to another; and it is not allowable there ...

— Heaven and its Wonders and Hell • Emanuel Swedenborg

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