apprise
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /əˈpɹaɪz/
rhymes: -aɪz
Forms: form: apprises
form: apprising
form: apprised
form: apprised
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: apprise
form: apprise
form: apprised
form: apprise
form: apprisest
form: apprised
form: apprisedst
form: apprises
form: appriseth
form: apprised
form: apprise
form: apprised
form: apprise
form: apprised
form: apprise
form: -
form: apprising
form: apprised
form: apprize
Etymology: PIE word
 *h₂éd
Borrowed from French appris, apprise, the past participle form of apprendre (“to learn; to teach”), from Middle French apprendre, aprendre (“to learn”), from Old French aprendre, aprandre (“to learn; to educate, teach”), from Latin apprēndere, a variant of apprehendere, adprehendere, the present active infinitives of apprehendō, adprehendō (“to lay hold upon, grab, grasp, seize, take; to apprehend, arrest; to grasp with the mind, comprehend, understand; (Medieval Latin) to learn; to inform; to teach”), from ad- (prefix meaning ‘to; towards’) + prehendō (“to lay hold of, grab, grasp, seize, take; (figuratively, rare) of the mind: to apprehend, comprehend, grasp, seize”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to find; to hold; to seize, take”)). Doublet of apprehend.
Senses: examples: text: The ears apprise the brain of sound.
text: [I]n general, he reſolve to Govern vvell: And […] Throughly and rightly to appriſe himſelf of that Principle that is the Soul of the Government; […]
ref: 1692 April 23 (Gregorian calendar), Henry, Earl of Warrington [i.e., Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington], The Speech of the Right Honourable Henry Earl of Warrington, Lord Delamere, to the Grand Jury at Chester. April 13, 1692, London: […] Richard Baldwin, […], →OCLC, page 4:
text: As you have considered human nature in all its lights, you must be extremely well apprised, that there is a very close correspondence between the outward and the inward man; […]
ref: 1712 November 4 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “FRIDAY, October 24, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 518; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 12:
text: Thus far vve ſee hovv the learned Pagans might apprize themſelves from oral information of the particulars of our Saviour's hiſtory.
ref: a. 1720 (date written), Joseph Addison, “Section VI. Excellency of the Christian Institution.”, in The Evidences of the Christian Religion, […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], published 1730, →OCLC, subsection I, pages 46–47:
text: As ſhe is a mighty Letter-vvriter, I hope ſhe has had the Duty to apprize you of her Intrigue vvith the young Clergyman; […]
ref: 1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXX”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. […], 3rd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […]; and J. Osborn, […], →OCLC, page 117:
text: […] Fox, he said, he knew would not have engaged in the management of the Parliament, had he been apprized that he (Bute) intended to retire, and it had been necessary to the King's affairs that Fox should carry them through the session.
ref: a. 1798 (date written), Horace Walpole, chapter XVII, in Denis Le Marchant, editor, Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley […], published 1845, →OCLC, page 258:
text: He led the way to the adjoining cell, which, as the reader is apprised, was occupied by Gurth the swine-herd.— […]
ref: 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 115:
text: But when it is considered, that by a reciprocal understanding, the Pilot fish seem to act as scouts to the shark, warning him of danger, and apprising him of the vicinity of prey; and moreover, in case of his being killed, evincing their anguish by certain agitations, otherwise inexplicable; the whole thing becomes a mystery unfathomable.
ref: 1849, Herman Melville, “My Lord Shark and His Pages”, in Mardi: And a Voyage Thither. […], volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 69:
text: In compliance with the standing order of his commander—to report immediately, and at any one of the twenty-four hours, any decided change in the affairs of the deck,—Starbuck had no sooner trimmed the yards to the breeze—however reluctantly and gloomily,—than he mechanically went below to apprise Captain Ahab of the circumstance.
ref: 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Midnight Aloft—Thunder and Lightning”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, pages 566–567:
text: Our Gracious Lawgiver then warningly appriseth His Apostles, and Disciples, and per inference, of course, all Ministers, Preachers, and Teachers of His Holy Gospel throughout all ages, that, […] should they themselves be guilty of the breach of the least of them [i.e., the Commandments]; that be he, or they, whosoever he, or they, may be, shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
ref: 1858, “Chief of Sinners” [pseudonym], An Earnest Exhortation to Christian Unity, […], London: Partridge and Co., […], →OCLC, page 280:
text: Again, Telemachos apprises Menelaos that Ithaca is a goat-feeding island, without meadows, and more epēratos than a horse-feeding country.
ref: 1869, William Ewart Gladstone, “Miscellaneous”, in Juventus Mundi: The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, section I (The Idea of Beauty in Homer), page 519:
text: Thou apprisest the thief when an opportunity will occur.
ref: 1871, John Hunter, [William] Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s King Henry IV. Part I. […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, act II, scene i, page 34, footnote 1:
text: The object is to keep the yard operators apprised of main-line movements, so that they do not plan to occupy the main lines with activity into or out of the yard at an inopportune juncture.
ref: 1962 October, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—II”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 170:
text: The signalman rapidly apprised the Railtrack Control Centre at Croydon of the unfolding disaster, and asked them to pre-emptively call the emergency services.
ref: 2019 November 6, Paul Stephen, “Cowden: A Crash Radio could have Prevented”, in Rail, number 891, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72:
text: The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] will be monitoring and investigating eviction practices to ensure that companies are complying with the law. Evicting tenants in violation of the CDC, state, or local moratoria, or threatening to evict them without apprising them of their legal rights under such moratoria, may violate the law.
ref: 2021 March 29, Gerhard Peters, John T. Woolley, “Fact Sheet: The Biden–Harris Administration’s Multi-Agency Effort to Support Renters and Landlords”, in The American Presidency Project, Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 17 Nov 2022:
synonyms: word: acquaint
word: keep (someone) abreast of
word: keep someone posted
word: acquaint
word: advise
word: apprise
word: enlighten
word: impart
word: inform
word: keep informed
word: let know
word: notify
word: tell
glosses: To make (someone or oneself) aware of some information; to inform, to notify.
examples: text: P.S. Morlands have not yet written to my bankers apprizing the payment of your balances; pray desire them to do so.
ref: 1817 October 23, Lord Byron, “Letter CCC. To Mr. Murray.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], published 1830, →OCLC, page 151:
glosses: To formally impart (information) to someone; to advise, to notify.
Derived terms: apprisal
reapprise
unapprised