Perception

How to spell perception

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce perception

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does perception mean?

1. nounThe way in which something is understood, regarded, or interpreted.
2. nounThe process of becoming aware of something through the senses.

Perception in a sentence

• The campaign aimed to change public perception of the brand.

• Depth perception allows the eyes to judge distance accurately.

• Her perception of the meeting differed sharply from his.

• Alcohol slows reaction time and dulls sensory perception.

Where does perception come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin perceptio, with its stem perceptionem, meaning 'a gathering in' or 'a taking hold of'. That noun was built from the verb percipere, which combined per-, meaning 'thoroughly', with capere, meaning 'to take' or 'to seize', so the literal sense was to take something in completely, both physically and mentally. English borrowed it through Old French in the late 1300s, at first chiefly for the act of receiving impressions through the senses, and later for the broader idea of how the mind grasps and interprets those impressions. The same capere root sits inside a large family of relatives such as 'receive', 'accept', 'capture' and 'concept', and recognising that shared cept spelling is a reliable guide to the middle of the word. Because the unstressed first syllable sounds like a vague 'per', some writers reach for 'pre-', but the per- 'through' prefix is what keeps the spelling steady.

How the word is built

• per- (through, thoroughly)
• cept (from Latin capere: to take, grasp)
• -ion (noun-forming suffix)