Dictionary

perceive en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /pɚˈsiv/ (General-American)
• /pəˈsiːv/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

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.

Meanings

1. (transitive) To become aware of, through the physical senses, to see; to understand.
   • Then our first effort must be to identify the actual words. Only after recognizing them individually can we begin to try to understand them, to struggle with perceiving what they mean. 1972, Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 17:
   • Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge. 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 14:7:
   • Morton was in fearful time pressure and at first did not realize he was mated. He snatched up his King and swung it around wildly, finally perceiving that there was no square for the critter, 1938 May, Fred Reinfeld, “The US Championship Tournament”, in Chess Review:
   • 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. 2012 March-April, Colin Allen, “Do I See What You See?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2012, page 168:
2. To interpret something in a particular way.
   • John was perceived to be a coward by his comrades

Forms

Antonyms

produce sensation

Deriveds

perceivingness · underperceive · unperceiving · perceivance · perceivable · perceiver · overperceive · perceivingly · reperceive · preperceive · misperceive · nonperceiving

Hypernyms

detect

Hyponyms

feel · olfact · taste · hear · see

Relateds

perceptive · percept · perception

Synonyms

make out · percept · sensate · perceive · discern · ken · sense

Translations (92)

ar وَعَى (to become aware of) · ang onġietan (to become aware of) · dsb wumarkowaś (to become aware of) · gl percibir (to become aware of) · bg разбера́ (to become aware of) · mi mau (to become aware of) · ja 気付く (to become aware of) · mk согледа (to become aware of) · bg разби́рам (to become aware of) · be успрыйма́ць (to become aware of) · pt entender (to become aware of) · sv uppfatta (to become aware of) · ro înțelege (to become aware of) · el αντιλαμβάνομαι (to become aware of) · zza idrak kerden (to become aware of) · ar أَدْرَكَ (to become aware of) · dsb markowaś (to become aware of) · zza şık berden (to become aware of) · th เข้าใจ (to become aware of) · ko 감지하다 (to become aware of) · cmn 察覺 /察觉 (to become aware of) · ia perciper (to become aware of) · ro pricepe (to become aware of) · da begribe (to become aware of) · ko 지각하다 (to become aware of) · zza şok bıyayen (to become aware of) · sv begripa (to become aware of) · grc αἰσθάνομαι (to become aware of) · es apercibirse de (to become aware of) · sga airigidir (to become aware of) · bg възприе́мам (to become aware of) · enm perceyven (to become aware of) · fr percevoir (to become aware of) · cmn 感知 (to become aware of) · be успрыма́ць (to become aware of) · es percibir (to become aware of) · pl dostrzegać (to become aware of) · pl dostrzec (to become aware of) · mk согледува (to become aware of) · cy canfod (to become aware of) · dsb zawupytaś (to become aware of) · ja 感知する (to become aware of) · fi huomata (to become aware of) · sw kutambua (to become aware of) · cy dirnad (to become aware of) · sk vnímať (to become aware of) · la video (to become aware of) · ota سچمك (to become aware of) · ru восприня́ть (to become aware of) · tr algılamak (to become aware of) · th รับรู้ (to become aware of) · pt compreender (to become aware of) · it percepire (to become aware of) · cs vnímat (to become aware of) · pt perceber (to become aware of) · eo percepti (to become aware of) · et tajuma (to become aware of) · fa درک کردن (to become aware of) · hu felfog (to become aware of) · hu észlel (to become aware of) · fi havaita (to become aware of) · dsb zawupytnuś (to become aware of) · grc ὁράω (to become aware of) · ja 知覚する (to become aware of) · eo senti (to become aware of) · cmn 知覺 /知觉 (to become aware of) · grc μανθάνω (to become aware of) · ru воспринима́ть (to become aware of) · ar فَهِمَ (to become aware of) · sv förnimma (to become aware of) · cy amgyffred (to become aware of) · gd fairich (to become aware of) · nl waarnemen (to become aware of) · de wahrnehmen (to become aware of) · uk сприйма́ти (to become aware of) · bg възприе́ма (to become aware of) · cy sylweddoli (to become aware of) · fi tajuta (to become aware of) · la dispecto (to become aware of) · be успрыня́ць (to become aware of) · la sāgiō (to become aware of) · cy sylwi (to become aware of) · ga airigh (to become aware of) · is skynja (to become aware of) · ro realiza (to become aware of) · la dispicio (to become aware of) · ja 認める (to become aware of) · got 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (to become aware of) · fi oivaltaa (to become aware of) · fi hahmottaa (to become aware of) · ca percebre (to become aware of) · uk сприйня́ти (to become aware of)