different between apprehension vs acquaintance

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin apprehensio, apprehensionis, compare with French appréhension. See apprehend.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /æp.???h?n.??n/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æp.?i?h?n.??n/

Noun

apprehension (countable and uncountable, plural apprehensions)

1. (rare) The physical act of seizing or taking hold of (something); seizing.
   • 2006, Phil Senter, "Comparison of Forelimb Function between Deinonychus and Babiraptor (Theropoda: Dromaeosauridea)", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, vol. 26, no. 4 (Dec.), p. 905:

     The wing would have been a severe obstruction to apprehension of an object on the ground.

2. (law) The act of seizing or taking by legal process; arrest.
3. perception; the act of understanding using one's intellect without affirming, denying, or passing any judgment
   • 1815, Percy Bysshe Shelley, "On Life," in A Defence of Poetry and Other Essays (1840 edition):

     We live on, and in living we lose the apprehension of life.

4. Opinion; conception; sentiment; idea.
5. The faculty by which ideas are conceived or by which perceptions are grasped; understanding.
6. Anticipation, mostly of things unfavorable; dread or fear at the prospect of some future ill.

Usage notes

• Apprehension springs from a sense of danger when somewhat remote, but approaching; alarm arises from danger when announced as near at hand. Apprehension is less agitated and more persistent; alarm is more agitated and transient.

Synonyms

• (anticipation of unfavorable things): alarm
• (act of grasping with the intellect): awareness, sense
• See also Thesaurus:apprehension

Antonyms

• inapprehension

Related terms

Translations

References

• apprehension at OneLook Dictionary Search
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman aquaintaunce, aqueintance, Old French acointance (“friendship, familiarity”), from Old French acointer (“to acquaint”). Compare French accointance.

Morphologically acquaint +? -ance.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??kwe?nt?ns/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??kwe?n.t?ns/

Noun

acquaintance (countable and uncountable, plural acquaintances)

1. (uncountable) A state of being acquainted with a person; originally indicating friendship, intimacy, but now suggesting a slight knowledge less deep than that of friendship; acquaintanceship. [from 12th c.]

   I know of the man; but have no acquaintance with him.

   • 1799, William Jones (translator), Hito'pade'sa, in The Works, Volume 6, page 22:

     Contract no friend?hip, or even acquaintance, with a guileful man : he re?embles a coal, which when hot burneth the hand, and when cold blacketh it.

2. (countable) A person or persons with whom one is acquainted. [from 14th c.]
3. (uncountable) Such people collectively; one's circle of acquaintances (with plural concord). [from 15th c.]
   • 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Penguin 2004, p. 230:

     Their mother […] was busy in the mean time in keeping up her connections, as she termed a numerous acquaintance, lest her girls should want a proper introduction into the great world.

4. Personal knowledge (with a specific subject etc.). [from 16th c.]

Usage notes

• Synonym notes: The words acquaintance, familiarity, and intimacy now mark different degrees of closeness in social intercourse. Acquaintance arises from occasional intercourse or interaction; as, "our acquaintance has been a brief one". We can speak of a slight or an intimate acquaintance. Familiarity is the result of continued acquaintance. It springs from persons being frequently together, so as to wear off all restraint and reserve; as, "the familiarity of old companions". Intimacy is the result of close connection, and the freest interchange of thought; as, "the intimacy of established friendship".

Synonyms

• familiarity, fellowship, intimacy, knowledge
• See also Thesaurus:acquaintance

Derived terms

• nodding acquaintance
• renew acquaintances

Related terms

• acquaint

Translations

References

• acquaintance in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• acquaintance at OneLook Dictionary Search