different between apprehension vs comprehension

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

Borrowed from Middle French compréhension, from Latin comprehensi? (“taking together”), from com- (“with, together”) +? prehend? (“take”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /k?mp???h?n?n?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k?mp???h?n?n?/

Noun

comprehension (countable and uncountable, plural comprehensions)

1. thorough understanding
2. (logic) The totality of intensions, that is, attributes, characters, marks, properties, or qualities, that the object possesses, or else the totality of intensions that are pertinent to the context of a given discussion.
3. (programming) A compact syntax for generating a list in some functional programming languages.
4. (Christianity) The inclusion of nonconformists within the Church of England.

Synonyms

• understanding

Related terms

Translations