deprehend

D2E1P3R1E1H4E1N1D2
/ˌdɛpɹəˈhɛnd/

verb

To take unawares or by surprise; to catch or seize (a criminal etc.) in the act.

OriginLatin deprehendere →
Scrabble 16
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbdeprehend (third-person singular simple present deprehends, present participle deprehending, simple past and past participle deprehended)

present singular third person deprehends · participle present deprehending · participle past deprehended · past deprehended

  1. obsoleteTo take unawares or by surprise; to catch or seize (a criminal etc.) in the act.

    The deprehended adulteress

    1655, Jeremy Taylor, Unum Necessarium
  2. obsoleteTo detect; to discover; to find out.

    The motions of the minute parts of bodies […] are to be deprehended by experience.

    1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William Lee […], →OCLC

Origin

  1. Latindeprehendere
  2. Englishdeprehend

From Latin deprehendere, deprehensum, from de- + prehendere (“to lay hold of, seize”). See prehensile.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

deprehend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deprehend

MLA

“deprehend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deprehend. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deprehend,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deprehend.

Source: deprehend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.