*perce*

n. [ Pref. ad- + perception: cf. F. apperception. ] (Metaph.) The mind's perception of itself as the subject or actor in its own states; perception that reflects upon itself; sometimes, intensified or energetic perception. Leibnitz. Reid. [ 1913 Webster ]

This feeling has been called by philosophers the apperception or consciousness of our own existence. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the ability to perceive or gain information about external facts or events by means other than the senses. the existence of such an ability, as well as other parapsychologial phenomena, is widely disbelieved among scientists, and no demonstration of the phenomenon satisfyng rigorous standards of scientific proof has been reported. [ PJC ]

a. Imperceptible. [ R. ] South. -- Im`per*ceiv"a*ble*ness, n. Sharp. [1913 Webster]

a. Not perceived. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being imperceptible. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. im- not + perceptible: cf. F. imperceptible. ] Not perceptible; not to be apprehended or cognized by the senses; not discernible by the mind; not easily apprehended. [ 1913 Webster ]

Almost imperceptible to the touch. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Its operation is slow, and in some cases almost imperceptible. Burke.

-- Im`per*cep"ti*ble*ness, n. -- Im`per*cep"ti*bly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their . . . subtilty and imperceptibleness. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of perception. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Unable to perceive. [ 1913 Webster ]

The imperceptive part of the soul. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Erroneous perception. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖pl.; sing. Nez Percé /sing>. [ F., pierced noses. ] (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians, in the late 1800's mostly inhabiting Idaho. They were involved under Chief Joseph, in the last major battle of the Indian wars, attempting to resist being moved to a reservation. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

v. t. To pierce. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being perceived; perceptible. -- Per*ceiv"a*bly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. Power of perceiving. [ Obs. ] “The senses and common perceivance.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Perceived p. pr. & vb. n. Perceiving. ] [ OF. percevoir, perceveir, L. percipere, perceptum; per (see Per-) + capere to take, receive. See Capacious, and cf. Perception. ] 1. To obtain knowledge of through the senses; to receive impressions from by means of the bodily organs; to take cognizance of the existence, character, or identity of, by means of the senses; to see, hear, or feel; as, to perceive a distant ship; to perceive a discord. Reid. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To take intellectual cognizance of; to apprehend by the mind; to be convinced of by direct intuition; to note; to remark; to discern; to see; to understand. [ 1913 Webster ]

Jesus perceived their wickedness. Matt. xxii. 18. [ 1913 Webster ]

You may, fair lady,
Perceive I speak sincerely. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understandings, we are still in the dark. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be affected of influented by. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air here below. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To discern; distinguish; observe; see; feel; know; understand. -- To Perceive, Discern. To perceive a thing is to apprehend it as presented to the senses or the intellect; to discern is to mark differences, or to see a thing as distinguished from others around it. We may perceive two persons afar off without being able to discern whether they are men or women. Hence, discern is often used of an act of the senses or the mind involving close, discriminating, analytical attention. We perceive that which is clear or obvious; we discern that which requires much attention to get an idea of it. “We perceive light, darkness, colors, or the truth or falsehood of anything. We discern characters, motives, the tendency and consequences of actions, etc.” Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]

pos>adj. 1. Detected by instinct or inference rather than by recognized perceptual cues; as, a perceived threat.
Syn. -- felt, sensed. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. Detected by means of the senses; as, a perceived difference in temperature. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who perceives (in any of the senses of the verb). Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Parsley. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A proportion multiplied by 100; as, he receives a percent of the proceeds; 3 is 75 percent of 4. Often symbolized by the character “%”; as, at 6% interest.
Syn. -- percentage, per cent, pct. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Per cent + -age, as in average. See Per, and Cent. ] (Com.) A certain rate per cent; the allowance, duty, rate of interest, discount, or commission, on a hundred. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From L. percipere, perceptum. ] 1. That object or phenomenon which is perceived. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The mental result of perceiving; the sensation of something perceived; that part of the mental state resulting from an act of perception. [ PJC ]

The modern discussion between percept and concept, the one sensuous, the other intellectual. Max Müller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. perceptibilité. ] 1. The quality or state of being perceptible; as, the perceptibility of light or color. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Perception. [ R. ] Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. perceptibilis: cf. F. perceptible. See Perceive. ] Capable of being perceived; cognizable; discernible; perceivable; large enough to be perceived; not so small as to be incapable of perception. [ 1913 Webster ]

With a perceptible blast of the air. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Per*cep"ti*ble*ness, n. -- Per*cep"ti*bly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. perceptio: cf. F. perception. See Perceive. ] 1. The act of perceiving; cognizance by the senses or intellect; apprehension by the bodily organs, or by the mind, of what is presented to them; discernment; apprehension; cognition. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Metaph.) The faculty of perceiving; the faculty, or peculiar part, of man's constitution by which he has knowledge through the medium or instrumentality of the bodily organs; the act of apperhending material objects or qualities through the senses; -- distinguished from conception. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Matter hath no life nor perception, and is not conscious of its own existence. Bentley. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The quality, state, or capability, of being affected by something external; sensation; sensibility. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

This experiment discovereth perception in plants. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An idea; a notion. [ Obs. ] Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ “The word perception is, in the language of philosophers previous to Reid, used in a very extensive signification. By Descartes, Malebranche, Locke, Leibnitz, and others, it is employed in a sense almost as unexclusive as consciousness, in its widest signification. By Reid this word was limited to our faculty acquisitive of knowledge, and to that branch of this faculty whereby, through the senses, we obtain a knowledge of the external world. But his limitation did not stop here. In the act of external perception he distinguished two elements, to which he gave the names of perception and sensation. He ought perhaps to have called these perception proper and sensation proper, when employed in his special meaning.” Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. perceptif. ] 1. Of or pertaining to the act or power of perceiving; having the faculty or power of perceiving; used in perception. “His perceptive and reflective faculties.” Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Possesing or exhibiting a high degree of understanding, insight, intuition, or analytical skill; as, he gave a perceptive analysis of the situation. [ PJC ]

n. The quality or state of being perceptive; power of perception. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖prop. n. pl. [ NL., fr. L. perca a perch + esox, -ocis, a pike. ] (Zool.) An order of fishes including the gray mullets (Mugil), the barracudas, the silversides, and other related fishes. So called from their relation both to perches and to pikes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of perceiving again; a repeated perception of the same object. [ 1913 Webster ]

No external praise can give me such a glow as my own solitary reperception and ratification of what is fine. Keats. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. super- + celestial: cf. L. supercaelestis. ] 1. Situated above the firmament, or great vault of heaven. Waterland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Higher than celestial; superangelic. [ 1913 Webster ]

See accommodating.
See aching.
See ailing.
See aiming.
See alarming.
See altering.
See appreciating.
See approving.
See aspiring.
See assisting.
See attempting.
See attending.
See bearing.
See befitting.
See beginning.
See believing.
See bleaching.
See bleeding.
See blemishing.
See blenching.
See blossoming.
See blushing.
See boding.
See branching.
See breathing.
See burning.
See calculating.
See ceasing.
See changing.
See charming.
See communicating.
See complaining.
See complying.
See conceiving.
See conducing.
See confessing.
See conniving.
See consenting.
See considering.
See conspiring.
See consulting.
See consuming.
See contending.
See contriving.
See conversing.
See convincing.
See dawning.
See decaying.
See delaying.
See depending.
See derogating.
See deserving.
See desiring.
See despairing.
See detesting.
See deviating.
See differencing.
See discerning.
See discording.
See discriminating.
See disobliging.
See dispensing.
See dissembling.
See dissolving.
See distinguishing.
See distracting.
See disturbing.
See doubting.
See dreading.
See drooping.
See ebbing.
See echoing.
See edifying.
See ending.
See enduring.
See engaging.
See enjoying.
See entering.
See enterprising.
See entertaining.
See envying.
See existing.
See fadging.
See fading.
See fainting.
See faltering.
See fearing.
See feigning.
See fighting.
See fitting.
See flagging.
See flattering.
See flinching.
See folding.
See forbearing.
See foreboding.
See foreseeing.
See forgiving.
See giving.
See grudging.
See harming.
See heeding.
See hesitating.
See hoping.
See hurting.
See importing.
See imposing.
See improving.
See interesting.
See intermitting.
See intoxicating.
See inviting.
See jarring.
See laboring.
See lingering.
See listening.
See loving.
See meddling.
See meriting.
See mistrusting.
See moving.
See murmuring.
See obliging.
See observing.
See offending.
See opening.
See pardoning.
See paying.
See perceiving.
See performing.
See perishing.
See pitying.
See pleasing.
See possessing.
See preaching.
See prepossessing.
See presuming.
See pretending.
See prevailing.
See prevaricating.
See profiting.
See promising.
See proving.
See quailing.
See questioning.
See reasoning.
See recalling.
See reclining.
See recurring.
See referring.
See reflecting.
See refunding.
See refusing.
See rejoicing.
See relaxing.
See relishing.
See remembering.
See repenting.
See repining.
See reproving.
See repulsing.
See resisting.
See resolving.
See resting.
See returning.
See rewarding.
See sanctifying.
See satisfying.
See searching.
See seeing.
See setting.
See shrinking.
See sinking.
See sleeping.
See slipping.
See slumbering.
See speaking.
See stinting.
See stirring.
See stooping.
See submitting.
See sufficing.
See suiting.
See surging.
See suspecting.
See sweating.
See swerving.
See sympathizing.
See tasting.
See thriving.
See tiring.
See toiling.
See trading.
See trembling.
See trespassing.
See trifling.
See vacillating.
See varying.
See walking.
See wandering.
See waning.
See wasting.
See wavering.
See weeping.
See winking.
See winning.
See withdrawing.
See withering.
See wondering.
See working.
See writing.
See yielding.
----- and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

The above classes of words are unlimited in extent, and such compounds may be formed by any writer or speaker at will from almost all the adjectives or participles in the language, excepting those which have a recognized and usual negative correspondent with the prefix -in. No attempt will be made, therefore, to define them all in this Dictionary; many will be omitted from its Vocabulary which are negations of the simple word, and are readily explained by prefixing a not to the latter. Derivatives of these words in -ly and -ness will also, for the most part, be omitted for the same or similar reasons. [ 1913 Webster ]

There will be inserted as separate articles with definitions, the following: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Those which have acquired an opposed or contrary, instead of a merely negative, meaning; as, unfriendly, ungraceful, unpalatable, unquiet, and the like; or else an intensive sense more than a prefixed not would express; as, unending, unparalleled, undisciplined, undoubted, unsafe, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Those which have the value of independent words, inasmuch as the simple words are either not used at all, or are rarely, or at least much less frequently, used; as, unavoidable, unconscionable, undeniable, unspeakable, unprecedented, unruly, and the like; or inasmuch as they are used in a different sense from the usual meaning of the primitive, or especially in one of the significations of the latter; as, unaccountable, unalloyed, unbelieving, unpretending, unreserved, and the like; or inasmuch as they are so frequently and familiarly used that they are hardly felt to be of negative origin; as, uncertain, uneven, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Those which are anomalous, provincial, or, for some other reason, not desirable to be used, and are so indicated; as, unpure for impure, unsatisfaction for dissatisfaction, unexpressible for inexpressible, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

II. Un- is prefixed to nouns to express the absence of, or the contrary of, that which the noun signifies; as, unbelief, unfaith, unhealth, unrest, untruth, and the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Compounds of this last class are given in full in their proper order in the Vocabulary. [ 1913 Webster ]