perception

[ per-sep-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act or faculty of perceiving, or apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.

   Synonyms: awareness, recognition, sense

2. immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment:

   an artist of rare perception.

3. the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept.
4. Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.
5. Law. the taking into possession of rents, crops, profits, etc.

perception

/ pəˈsɛpʃən /

noun

1. the act or the effect of perceiving
2. insight or intuition gained by perceiving
3. the ability or capacity to perceive
4. way of perceiving; awareness or consciousness; view

   advertising affects the customer's perception of a product

5. the process by which an organism detects and interprets information from the external world by means of the sensory receptors
6. law the collection, receipt, or taking into possession of rents, crops, etc

Derived Forms

• perˈceptional, adjective

Other Words From

• per·ception·al adjective
• nonper·ception noun
• nonper·ception·al adjective
• reper·ception noun
• self-per·ception noun
• unper·ception·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of perception¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English percepcioun, from Old French percepcïon, from Latin perceptiōn-, stem of perceptiō “comprehension,” literally, “a taking in”; percept, -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of perception¹

C15: from Latin perceptiō comprehension; see perceive

Example Sentences

Sometimes I feel like there's a perception that maybe I'm just here because I'm the captain, but it's not the case.

From BBC

As it turns out, using their geometry gives an overly large estimate of the human perception of differences between colors.

From Salon

As the field has grown, Benítez and colleagues wanted to quantify animal behavior researchers' perceptions of the taxonomic distribution of animal emotionality.

From Science Daily

“It will create the perception of corruption and foreign influence in a way that will actually be bad for the Trump administration, in addition to bad for the country,” Schake said.

From Salon

"We thought texters might like abbreviations because it would convey an informal sense of closeness, so we were surprised that abbreviations elicited negative perceptions about people who use them."

From Science Daily

Related Words

• approach
• attention
• attitude
• awareness
• concept
• consciousness
• feeling
• image
• impression
• judgment
• knowledge
• notion
• opinion
• recognition
• sense
• taste
• thought
• viewpoint