| Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993. |
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| comprehend, apprehend (vv.) |
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| Apprehend means “to capture, to grasp (literally or figuratively), to understand, or to fear”; in practice, however, American English seems to use to be apprehensive (about) for “to fear.” Comprehend too means “to understand, to grasp with the mind,” but also means “to include, to comprise.” Only in the “understand” sense are these words synonyms, although apprehend seems to stress understanding in the sense of “recognizing” (He seems to have apprehended, finally, that he has no standing in the case), whereas comprehend seems to stress understanding as “the intellectual process required to achieve comprehension” (After studying the various proposals, we finally comprehended what all the fuss was about). See also APPREHENSIVE. | 1 |
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| | | The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. Copyright © 1993 Columbia University Press. |
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