apprise

Apprise is a verb meaning to inform or notify someone about a particular matter. It is a formal term and is more likely to be found in official or professional writing than in everyday conversation. The word derives from Middle English, via Old French and the verb apprendre (to learn), and it has historically carried the sense of making someone aware of something. The standard usage is to apprise someone of something, often followed by of or as to.

In usage, apprise is commonly used in phrases such as “We were apprised of the changes,” “Please apprise me of any developments,” or “The supervisor will apprise the team of the policy.” The form apprised is the past tense and past participle (as in “We were apprised”). The term is usually interchangeable with inform or notify in meaning, but it preserves a more formal register. It is sometimes confused with appraise, which means to assess the value or quality of something.

In computing and technology, Apprise is also the name of an open-source software project: a Python library and command-line tool that enables sending notifications to multiple services from a single interface. Apprise supports numerous backends, including email, messaging apps, and collaboration platforms, and is used to implement centralized alerting and notification workflows in various applications and home automation setups.

Overall, apprise functions as a formal synonym for informing, while the capitalized Apprise refers to a separate software project that consolidates notification channels.