apprehensive 
5. Inclined to believe or suspect ; suspicious : 
as, I am apprehensive that he does not under- 
stand me 
278 
He (the king] became apjui'lii'iisiee that his motives wer 
misconstrued, even by his friends. llallam 
6. Perceptive ; feeling ; sensitive. 
Thoughts, my tormentors, anu'd with deadly stings, 
Manirle inv apvrchentii re tenderest parts. 
Milton, S. A., 1.624. 
7. In metaph., relating to simple apprehension. 
It yields as a corollary that judgment, that comparison, 
that the cognition of relativity is implied in every H///HV- 
In'iixit'c act. Sir W. Hamilton. 
Apprehensive concept, a concept without judgment. 
Apprehensive knowledge, the mere understanding of a 
proposition without assent or dissent : opposed to adhesive 
apprehensively (ap-re-hen'siv-li), adv. In an 
apprehensive manner ; with apprehension. 
apprehensiveness (ap-re-hen'siv-nes), . The 
state or quality of being apprehensive. (a) 
Readiness to understand, (b) Fearfulness. 
apprendt, v. t. [< F. apprendre, < L. apprendere, 
lay hold of: see apprehend.] To lay hold of; 
apprehend. 
apprentice (a-pren'tis), n. [Early mod. E. also 
apprentice, <( ME. apprentice, aprentis (and by 
apheresis often shortened to prentice, prentis, 
mod. E. prentice, q. v.),< OF. apprentis, aprentis, 
aprentice (Bouchi dial, apprentichf = Pr. ap- 
prentiz = Sp. Pg. aprendiz, ML. apprentices; 
mod. F. apprenti, as if sing, of apprentis as 
pi.), orig. nom. of aprentif, apprentif, a learner 
of a trade, < apprendre, aprendre, learn, < L. 
iiji/irendere, contr. from apprehendere, lay hold 
of, understand, in ML. and Bom. also learn : see 
apprehend.] 1. One who is bound by indenture 
to serve some particular individual or company 
for a specified time, in order to learn some art, 
trade, profession, manufacture, etc., in which 
his master or masters become bound to instruct 
him. Hence 2. A learner in any depart- 
ment; one only slightly versed in a subject; 
a novice. 3. In old English law, a barrister of 
less than sixteen years' standing. After this 
period he might be called to the rank of ser- 
jeant. Parish, town, etc. , apprentice, a person bound 
out by the proper authorities of a parish, town, etc., to 
prevent his becoming a public charge. 
apprentice (a-pren'tis), v . t. ; pret. and pp. ap- 
prenticed, ppr. appraiticing. [< apprentice, n.] 
To bind to or put under the care of a master, 
for the purpose of instruction in some art, 
trade, or profession ; indenture. 
apprenticeaget (a-pren'tis-aj), . [Also spelled 
apprentis(s)age, { F. apprentisage, now appren- 
tissage, < OF. apprentis: see apprentice, ., and 
-age.] Same as apprenticeship. 
apprentice-box (a-pren'tis-boks), n. Same as 
thrift-box, 
apprenticehoodt (a-pren'tis-hud), n. [< appren- 
tice + -hood.] Apprenticeship. 
Must I not serve a long apprenticehood 
To foreign passages ? Shak. , Rich. II. , i. 3. 
apprenticeship (a-pren'tis-ship), . [< appren- 
tice + -ship.] 1" T?he service or legal condi- 
tion of an apprentice ; the method or process 
of gaining knowledge of some trade, art, or pro- 
fession from the instruction of a master. 2. 
The term during which one is an apprentice. 
appressed (a-presf), . [< L. appressus, adpres- 
sus (pp. of apprimerc, press to, < ad, to, + pre- 
mere, press) + -ed?.] Pressed closely against ; 
fitting closely to ; apposed. A term used in botany 
and zoology, and to a limited extent in geology : as, the 
spikelets of a grass may be closely appressed to the rachis. 
So also hairs or feathers when closely apposed are said to 
be appressed. Flexures of strata are said to be appressed 
when the anticlinals or synclinals are closely folded to- 
gether, so that the opposite corresponding portions are 
brought in contact with each other. In botany, also writ- 
ten oppressed (which see). 
apprestt (a-presf), n. [< OF. apreste, apprest, 
mod. appret, preparation, < aprester, apprester 
(mod. appreler), make ready, < L. ad, to, + 
prtestare, make ready : see presfi, and cf . press 2 , 
impress?.] Preparation or provision, especially 
for war, by enlisting soldiers. 
Vespasian laie at Yorke making his apprests ... to go 
against the Scots and Picts. 
Holinshed, Chron., Scotland (1586), p. 48. 
apprteur (a-pra-ter'), n. [F., lit. a preparer, 
< apprter, prepare: see apprest.] A rubber 
used in giving a gloss to skins. 
apprisal (a-pri'zal), n. Same as appraisal. 
apprise^, apprize 1 ! (a-priz'), n. [< ME. ap- 
prise, aprise, \ OF. aprise, apprise, instruction, 
prop. fern, of apris, appris, pp. of aprendre, F. 
apprendre, teach, learn, inform, < L. apprendere, 
apprehendere: see apprehend.] Learning; in- 
struction; information; lore. 
apprise 1 , apprize 1 (a-priz'), v. t.; pret. and 
pp. apprised, apprized, ppr. apprising, apprizing, 
'llallam. [< F. appris, apprise (< L. apprensus), pp. of ap- 
that of which notice is given : as, we will ap- 
prisv the general of an intended attack; he 
apprised his father of what he had done. 
He had been repeatedly apprised that some of his 
friends in England meditated a deed of blood. 
Macaulay, Hist. Bug., xxi. 
We now and then detect in nature slight dislocations, 
which apprize us that this surface on which we now stand 
is not fixed, but sliding. Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 285. 
=Syn. Notify, acquaint, warn, tell, mention to. 
apprise' 2 , *> t. See apprize?. 
apprize 1 , and v. See apprise*-. 
apprize' 2 , apprise 2 (a-priz'), v. t. ; pret. and pp. 
apprised, apprised, ppr. apprizing, apprising. 
[< ME. uprisen, < OF. apriser, aprisier (ME. also 
apraysen, *apreisen, mod. E. appraise, < OF. 
*apreiser, apretier), < LL. appretiare, value, es- 
timate: see appreciate, appraise, and cf . prize?, 
price, praise.] Same as appraise To apprize a 
heritage, in Scots law, to invest a creditor with the herit- 
able estate of his debtor. 
apprizement (a-priz 'ment), n. [< apprize? + 
-ment. Cf. appraisement.] Same as appraise- 
ment. 
apprizer (a-pri'zer), n. [< apprize* + -er*.] 
Same as appraiser. 
approach (a-proch'), v. [< ME. aprochen, ap- 
prochen, < OF. aprochier, F. approcher = Pr. 
apropchar = It. approcciare, < ML. appropiare, 
come near to, < L. ad, to, + propius (> Pr. pro- 
pi = F. proche : see prochain), nearer, compar. 
oiprope, near. Cf. approximate.] I. intrans. 
1 . To come or go near in place or time ; draw 
near; advance nearer ; come into presence. 
He was expected then, 
But not approach'd. Shak., Cymbeline, ii. 4. 
He . . . made signs for Rip to approach and assist him 
with the load. Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 53. 
2. Figuratively, to draw near; approximate; 
come near in degree : with to : as, he approaches 
to the character of an able statesman. 
II. trans. 1 . To bring near ; advance : as, he 
approached his hand to the cup. 
I ... approached my chair by sly degrees to the fire. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, vi. 
Even as a resolved general approaches his camp ... as 
nearly as he can to the besieged city. Scott. 
2. To come or draw near to : as, to approach 
the gate. 3. Figuratively, to come near to in 
quality, character, or condition ; nearly equal : 
as, modern sculpture does not approach that of 
the Greeks. 
Such and so extraordinary was the embrodery, that I 
never saw anything approaching it. 
Evelyn, Diary, Nov. 17, 1684. 
He was an admirable poet, and thought even to have 
approached Homer. Sir H'. Temple. 
In proportion as mankind approach complete adjust- 
ment of their natures to social needs, there must be fewer 
and smaller opportunities for giving aid. 
H. Spencer, Data of Ethics, 96. 
approach (a-proch'), n. [< ME. approche = F '. 
approclie; 'from the verb.] 1. The act of 
drawing near ; a coming or advancing near. 
Does my approach displease his grace ? are my eyes 
So hateful to him? Fletcher, Wife for a Month, i. 1. 
2. Access; opportunity or liberty of drawing 
near; nearness: as, "the approach to kings, 
Bacon. 3. Nearness or close approximation 
in quality, likeness, or character. 
Absolute purity of blood, I repeat, will be found no- 
where ; but the nearest approaches to it must be looked 
for among those nations which have played the least figure 
in history. E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 88. 
We can none the less restore or reconstruct individual 
Old Aryan words with a fair approach to accuracy. 
J. Fiske, Evolutionist, p. 126. 
4. A passage or avenue by which anything is 
approached ; any means of access or approxi- 
mation. 
The approaches to the city of New Orleans, from the 
eastern quarter also, will require to be examined, and 
more effectually guarded. Jefferson, Works, VIII. 64. 
The approach by rail is through the marshes and lagoons 
which lie on either side of the Rhone. 
C. D. Warner, Roundabout Journey, p. 46. 
5. pi. lu fort., the works thrown up by be- 
siegers to protect themselves in their advances 
toward a fortress. Compare bo yau. Counter 
approaches, in fort., works carried on by the besieged 
against those of the besiegers. Curve of equal ap- 
proach, in math., a curve along which a body descending 
approbation 
by the force of gravity makes equal approaches to the 
horizon in equal portions of time. Method of ap- 
proaches, in alf/fhi-fi, a method of resolving certain prob- 
lems by assigning limits and making gradual approxima- 
tions to the correct answer. To graft by approach, in 
Sort., to Inarch. =Syn. 1. Approximation, advent. 2. Ad- 
mittance. 
approachability (a-pro-cha-bil'j-ti), . [< ap- 
proach a hie: see -bility.] " Approachableness ; 
affability. Buskin. 
approachable (a-pro'cha-bl), a. [< approach 
+ -able.] Capable of being approached; acces- 
sible. 
approachableness (a-pro'cha-bl-nes), n. The 
state or quality of being approachable ; affa 
bility; friendliness. 
apprbacher (a-pro'cher), . One who ap- 
proaches or draws near. 
approaching (a-pro'ching), n. In liort., the act 
of ingrafting a sprig or shoot of one tree into 
another without cutting it from the parent 
stock. Also called inarching and grafting by 
approach. 
approachless (a-proch'les), a. [< approach + 
-less.] Without approach; unable to be ap- 
proached; inaccessible; forbidding. 
approachment (a-proch'ment), n. [< approach 
+ -men t.] The act of approaching ; approach ; 
affinity; resemblance in trait or character. 
[Bare.] 
Ice will not concrete, but in the approachment of the 
air. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err. 
approbate (ap'ro-bat), a. [< L. ayprobatus, pp. : 
see the verb.] If. Approved. Sir T. Elyot. 2. 
In Scots law, accepted. See the verb. 
approbate (ap'ro-bat), . t. ; pret. and pp. ap- 
probated, ppr. approbating. [< L. approbatus, 
pp. of approbare, assent to as good, favor, ap- 
prove: see approve 1 .] 1. To express approba- 
tion of; manifest a liking for or degree of satis- 
faction in ; express approbation of officially, as 
of a person's fitness for a public office or em- 
ployment; approve; pass. 
The cause of this battle every man did allow and appro- 
bate. Hall, Hen. VII., an. 6. 
Mr. Hutchinson approbated the choice. J. Eliot. 
2. To license: as, to approbate a person to 
preach; to approbate a man to keep a hotel 
or other public house. [United States.] 
3. In Scots law, to approve or assent to as 
valid : chiefly in the following phrase Appro- 
bate and reprobate, in Scots law, to attempt to tale ad- 
vantage of one part of a deed while rejecting the rest : as, 
for example, where a disposition on a death-bed revokes a 
previous liege-poustie conveyance to the prejudice of the 
heir at law, but still gives the estate past the heir. The 
heir who abides by the deed in so far as it revokes the 
liege-poustie deed to his prejudice, while he challenges it 
on the head of death-bed, in so far as it defeats his interest 
in the estate, is said to approbate and reprobate the deed. 
This, however, is contrary to law, and cannot be done ; he 
must elect between the two alternatives : hence in English 
law the act is called election. 
This is not an ordinary case of election, but I consider 
that it is not open to her both to approbate and reprobate 
to take benefits under the settlement, and by her will 
to dispose of property which is comprised therein in a 
manner not in accordance with its provisions. 
Weekly Reporter, XXXII. 581. 
approbation (ap-ro-ba'shqn), n. [< ME. appro- 
bation, proof, < L'. approbatio(n-), < approbare, 
pp. approbatus: see approve 1 .] 1. The act of 
approving or commending ; the giving of assent 
to something as proper or praiseworthy ; sanc- 
tion; approval; commendation. 
The silent approbation of one's own breast. 
Melmoth, tr. of Pliny's Letters, i. 8. 
Both managers and authors of the least merit laugh at 
your pretensions. The public is their critic without 
whose fair approbation they know no play cau rest on the 
stage. Sheridan, The Critic, i. 1. 
If the approbation of good men be an object fit to be 
pursued, it is fit to be enjoyed. 
D. Webster, Speech, Senate, May 27, 1834. 
2. In the Rom. Cath. Cfi., the official judg- 
ment of a bishop or his representative approv- 
ing the fitness of a priest for healing confes- 
sion. It is distinct from the conferring of jurisdiction 
or power of absolving, though, except in case of danger 
of death, necessary to the valid exercise of the latter. 
See jurisdiction. 
3. An official sanction or license formerly re- 
quired in England, France, etc., for the publi- 
cation of a book or other writing. 4f. Con- 
clusive evidence; proof. ShaJc. 5f. Proba- 
tion; trial; novitiate. 
This day my sister should the cloister enter, 
And there receive her approbation. 
Shak., M. forM., i. 3. 
= Syn. 1. Approbation, Approval, liking, commendation; 
sanction, consent, concurrence. Approbation and approval 
are becoming separated in meaning, approbation being 
used more for the inward feeling, and approval more for 
the formal act. 
