• 2-minute read
• 2nd July 2015

The Ambiguity of ‘Apprehension’

English has evolved as a language over centuries, absorbing influences from dozens of cultures and mutating in strange and exciting ways. It is partly this which has made it an international language of everything from business to poetry.

But it is also this slow and varied development which makes it difficult to master, especially when it comes to words with more than one meaning, such as ‘apprehension’.

This word can mean both ‘understanding’ and ‘fear’. Confused? You don’t have to be, as we’ve prepared this handy guide to the different meanings of ‘apprehension’.

The Meanings of Apprehension

The two seemingly different meanings of this term actually have shared roots in the Latin word apprehensionem, meaning ‘to seize or grasp’.

This is still how the word is used when we say that someone has ‘apprehended a criminal’. But this now applies only in quite a specific context.

Meaning One: Understanding

The first meaning of ‘apprehension’ is ‘understanding’, whereby ‘apprehend’ means to learn or reach an understanding of something. For example:

Sarah’s apprehension of mathematics meant she was top of her class.

This is a metaphorical extension of the original meaning of ‘apprehension’. In other words, we’re saying that when you come to understand something, you ‘take hold of’ (or apprehend) it in a manner similar to seizing a suspect!

Meaning Two: Fear

We can also use ‘apprehension’ to denote a feeling of fearful or anxious anticipation of something negative. For example:

Despite revising, James was filled with apprehension over the exam.

Here, the idea is that we are ‘seized’ by an awareness of some future event that causes fear or anxiety. In this sense, it implies dread or anxiety.

Hopefully this guide has clarified a few things about how to use this term. If you want to make sure your work is always top notch, try sending a 500-word free sample to the professional proofreaders at Proofed today.