prehendo

Prehendo is a Latin verb meaning to seize, grasp, or arrest. It appears in classical Latin texts as the first-person singular present active form prehendo, with the infinitive prehendere, the perfect active prehendi, and the supine prehensum. The verb belongs to the third conjugation and yields a family of related forms and participles, such as prehensus (having been seized) and the stem prehend- used in compounds.

The root prehend- is the basis for a large set of English derivatives through Latin and French inheritance. English terms such as comprehend, apprehend, comprehension, and prehensile derive from prehendere or its participial forms. Prehensible and prehensile describe objects or limbs able to grasp or seize. In philosophy and psychology, prehension and comprehension refer to the act or capacity of grasping an idea or sensation, while apprehend can mean to arrest or to understand. The vocabulary thus encompasses physical grasp (prehensile limbs) and intellectual grasp (comprehension or apprehension).

In usage, prehendo and its derivatives function as standard Latin vocabulary in linguistic, historical, and scholarly contexts. They are commonly encountered in discussions of classical literature, Latin etymology, and the development of English words tied to the concept of grasping, seizing, or understanding. The term illustrates how a single Latin verb can give rise to a broad family of meanings across both motion and cognition.