different between apprehend vs opine

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French apprehender (compare modern French appréhender), from Latin apprehendere. Compare Spanish aprehender.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /æ.p?i?h?nd/
• Rhymes: -?nd

Verb

apprehend (third-person singular simple present apprehends, present participle apprehending, simple past and past participle apprehended)

1. (transitive, archaic) To take or seize; to take hold of.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, Of Contentedness

     We have two hands to apprehend it.

   1. (transitive, law enforcement) To take or seize (a person) by legal process; to arrest.

2. (transitive) To take hold of with the understanding, that is, to conceive in the mind; to become cognizant of; to understand; to recognize; to consider.
   • 1639, Thomas Fuller, The Historie of the Holy Warre

     This suspicion of Earl Reimund, though at first but a buzz, soon got a sting in the king's head, and he violently apprehended it.

   • 1858, William Ewart Gladstone, Studies on Homer and the Homeric Age

     The eternal laws, such as the heroic age apprehended them.
3. (transitive) To anticipate; especially, to anticipate with anxiety, dread, or fear; to fear.
4. (intransitive) To think, believe, or be of opinion; to understand; to suppose.
5. (intransitive) To be apprehensive; to fear.
   • c. 1700, Nicholas Rowe (translator), Characters: Or, the Manners of the Age (originally by Jean de La Bruyère)

     It is worse to apprehend than to suffer.

Usage notes

To apprehend, comprehend. These words come into comparison as describing acts of the mind. Apprehend denotes the laying hold of a thing mentally, so as to understand it clearly, at least in part. Comprehend denotes the embracing or understanding it in all its compass and extent. We may apprehend many truths which we do not comprehend. The very idea of God supposes that He may be apprehended, though not comprehended, by rational beings. We may apprehend much of Shakespeare's aim and intention in the character of Hamlet or King Lear; but few will claim that they have comprehended all that is embraced in these characters. --Trench.
(material dates from 1913)

Synonyms

• catch, seize, arrest, detain, capture, conceive, understand, imagine, believe, fear, dread

Derived terms

• apprehension
• misapprehend

Translations

English

Etymology 1

From Middle French opiner, from Latin op?nor (“to hold as an opinion”), from *op?nus (“thinking, expecting”), only in negative nec-op?nus (“not expecting”) and in-op?nus (“not expected”); akin to opt? (“to choose, desire”), and to ap?scor (“to obtain”); see optate and opt.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?(?)?pa?n/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /o??pa?n/
• Rhymes: -a?n

Verb

opine (third-person singular simple present opines, present participle opining, simple past and past participle opined)

1. (intransitive, transitive) To have or express an opinion; to state as an opinion; to suppose, consider (that).

   I opined that matters would soon become considerably worse.

   "Your decisions," she opined, "have been unfailingly disastrous for this company."

2. (intransitive) To give one's formal opinion (on or upon something).

   I had to opine on the situation because I thought a different perspective was in order.

Derived terms

• opination

Related terms

• opinion
• opinionated

Translations

Etymology 2

From Ancient Greek ???? (opós, “juice of a plant”) +? -ine.

Noun

opine (plural opines)

1. (biochemistry) Any of a class of organic compounds, derived from amino acids, found in some plant tumours

Translations

Further reading

• opine in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• opine in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: opinent, opines

Verb

opine

1. first-person singular present indicative of opiner
2. third-person singular present indicative of opiner
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of opiner
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of opiner
5. second-person singular imperative of opiner

Italian

Noun

opine

1. plural of opina

Portuguese

Verb

opine

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of opinar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of opinar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of opinar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of opinar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /o?pine/, [o?pi.ne]

Verb

opine

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of opinar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of opinar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of opinar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of opinar.