Apprehension

How to spell apprehension

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce apprehension

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does apprehension mean?

1. nounA feeling of worry or unease about something that may happen.
2. nounThe act of grasping or understanding an idea.
3. nounThe act of seizing or arresting a suspect.

Apprehension in a sentence

• A wave of apprehension swept over her before the job interview.

• A quick apprehension of the contract terms saved the company money.

• The apprehension of the fugitive followed a six-month investigation.

• He signed the mortgage papers with a flicker of apprehension.

• Her apprehension of complex tax rules impressed the auditors.

• Officers reported the apprehension of two suspects near the warehouse.

Where does apprehension come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin verb apprehendere, meaning 'to seize' or 'to lay hold of', built from ad- 'to, toward' and prehendere 'to grasp or take hold'. The same prehendere root sits inside English words like 'prehensile' and 'comprehend', all of which carry the idea of grasping. The noun form apprehensio originally referred to a literal or mental taking hold of something, and English borrowed it through Old French in the late 1300s, first meaning the act of grasping an idea, that is, understanding. From there the meaning drifted toward 'grasping at' a fear of what might happen, giving the now dominant sense of nervous dread. A practical spelling reminder lives in that root: the silent middle is 'prehend', so the word keeps an 'h' after the 'pre' even though the ear barely hears it.

How the word is built

• ap- (ad-, toward)
• prehend (from Latin prehendere: to seize, grasp)
• -sion (noun-forming suffix)