Pronounced: CON-ate (alt: koh-NATE), adj
Notes: Not the word I was thinking of
Yesterday’s word
The word prehension means
- the act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping
- mental understanding; comprehension
- apprehension by the senses
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1500s
Background / Comments
I should have been able to get to the meaning through the related word “prehensile”, which I think I knew from the phrase “prehensile tail”, but it didn’t occur to me. Our word came from the Latin word prehendere (to seize; to grasp). Other words from this root are “comprehend”, “apprehend”, and “prison”.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 