Perceived

How to spell perceived

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce perceived

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does perceived mean?

1. verbBecame aware of something through the senses, or came to understand or interpret it in a particular way.
2. adjectiveRegarded or understood in a particular way, as distinct from how something actually is.

Perceived in a sentence

• verb

  The committee perceived a clear shift in customer attitudes over the year.

• adjective

  The perceived value of the brand far exceeds its actual production cost.

• verb

  Many staff perceived the new policy as unfair to junior employees.

• adjective

  His perceived lack of interest cost him the promotion, though he cared deeply.

Where does perceived come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past form of perceive, which English took from Old French perçoivre in the early 1300s, itself descended from the Latin verb percipere. That Latin word combined the intensifying prefix per-, meaning 'thoroughly' or 'completely', with capere, meaning 'to take' or 'to seize', so its literal sense was 'to take in fully'. From physically grasping something, the meaning shifted to mentally grasping it, that is, becoming aware through the senses or understanding. The same capere root surfaces in a whole family of English words, including receive, conceive and deceive, all of which share the tricky -ceive spelling that trips writers up. The classic trap here is the order of the vowels: it follows the familiar rule that an i comes before e, except after c, so the c is followed by ei, not ie.

How the word is built

• per- (thoroughly)
• -ceive (from Latin capere: to take, seize)
• -d (past tense/participle ending)