Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act of grasping or seizing.
  • noun Apprehension by the senses.
  • noun Understanding.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of prehending, seizing, or taking hold.
  • noun Apprehension; mental grasp.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping, as with the hand or other member.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the act of grasping or gripping something, especially with the hands

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the act of gripping something firmly with the hands (or the tentacles)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin prehēnsiō, prehēnsiōn-, from prehēnsus, past participle of prehendere, to seize; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • Alfred North Whitehead, in Process and Reality, introduces the notion of prehension, that interiority is fundamental all the way down to the most basic levels of the universe.

    Consciousness Timeline: 1875-1945 Tusar N Mohapatra 2006

  • Most F5 neurons, irrespective of their category, also code the shape the hand has to adopt to execute the act in question, so we find neurons which become active when the monkey uses the precision grip (which is characterized by index – thumb opposition and is particularly useful for picking up small objects); others which discharge when the monkey uses all the fingers of its hand to grasp the object (this grip is normally used for medium-sized objects); finally others, which are rather rare, that fire during whole hand prehension, also known as prehension force, used for large objects.

    'Mirrors in the Brain: How Our Minds Share Actions And Emotions' 2008

  • Whitehead uses the term 'prehension' rather than 'perception,' because he doesn't think that entities like electrons are conscious, even though they do have a form of proto-perception, called 'prehension.'

    Larval Subjects . 2010

  • But the point, prehension, and then all that is experiential brings growth, pain and so MUCH BEAUTY.

    Sebastian Siegel: Manifesting the Moon Sebastian Siegel 2010

  • But the point, prehension, and then all that is experiential brings growth, pain and so MUCH BEAUTY.

    Sebastian Siegel: Manifesting the Moon Sebastian Siegel 2010

  • It is about prehension--apprehension by the senses.

    Anis Shivani: Exclusive: Beat Poet Michael McClure On Jim Morrison, The Doors, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac Anis Shivani 2011

  • But the point, prehension, and then all that is experiential brings growth, pain and so MUCH BEAUTY.

    Sebastian Siegel: Manifesting the Moon Sebastian Siegel 2010

  • But the point, prehension, and then all that is experiential brings growth, pain and so MUCH BEAUTY.

    Sebastian Siegel: Manifesting the Moon Sebastian Siegel 2010

  • But the point, prehension, and then all that is experiential brings growth, pain and so MUCH BEAUTY.

    Sebastian Siegel: Manifesting the Moon Sebastian Siegel 2010

  • But the point, prehension, and then all that is experiential brings growth, pain and so MUCH BEAUTY.

    Sebastian Siegel: Manifesting the Moon Sebastian Siegel 2010

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