percepimus

Percepimus is the first person plural perfect active indicative form of the Latin verb percipio, meaning to perceive, understand, or absorb. The verb perecipio is a compound of per- (through, thoroughly) and capio (to take). In classical Latin literature, percepimus is often employed to denote a finished action of comprehension or perception, as opposed to the infinitive percepi or the imperfect form percepiebam. The perfect aspect reflects a complete reception of information or an experience that has been fully internalized.

In grammatical discussions, percepimus is analyzed as a regular verb of the second conjugation, regularly prefixed by per-. It exhibits the typical vowel alternation capio → capitio, yielding capio, captio for the present stem and capitio for the perfect stem. This consonant shift is characteristic of many Latin verbs that participate in the so‑called "capio" series, such as capio, taceo or abscondere, and shows the connection between causal perception and taking in knowledge.

The word appears in a number of ancient texts, including Cicero's Orations, where he writes “percepimus doctrineam” to emphasize that the audience has fully grasped the philosophical argument. In some medieval glossaries, percepimus is cited as a model of perfect tense construction. Modern Latin studies frequently use percepimus as an example of the complete action construction that contrasts with the continuous perfect (perfect participle used with a pluperfect subjunctive) to illustrate the nuanced ways Latin expresses time and aspect.