apprise

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /əˈpɹaɪz/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪz
• Hyphenation: ap‧prise

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French appris, apprise, the past participle form of apprendre (“to learn; to teach”), from Middle French apprendre, aprendre (“to learn”), from Old French aprendre, aprandre (“to learn; to educate, teach”), from Latin apprēndere, a variant of apprehendere, adprehendere, the present active infinitives of apprehendō, adprehendō (“to lay hold upon, grab, grasp, seize, take; to apprehend, arrest; to grasp with the mind, comprehend, understand; (Medieval Latin) to learn; to inform; to teach”), from ad- (prefix meaning ‘to; towards’) + prehendō (“to lay hold of, grab, grasp, seize, take; (figuratively, rare) of the mind: to apprehend, comprehend, grasp, seize”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰed- (“to find; to hold; to seize, take”)). Doublet of apprehend.

Verb

apprise (third-person singular simple present apprises, present participle apprising, simple past and past participle apprised) (transitive, reflexive)

1. To make (someone or oneself) aware of some information; to inform, to notify.

   Synonyms: acquaint, keep (someone) abreast of, keep someone posted; see also Thesaurus:inform

   The ears apprise the brain of sound.

   • 1692 April 23 (Gregorian calendar), Henry, Earl of Warrington [i.e., Henry Booth, 1st Earl of Warrington], The Speech of the Right Honourable Henry Earl of Warrington, Lord Delamere, to the Grand Jury at Chester. April 13, 1692, London: Richard Baldwin, , →OCLC, page 4:

     [I]n general, he reſolve to Govern vvell: And […] Throughly and rightly to appriſe himſelf of that Principle that is the Soul of the Government; […]

   • 1712 November 4 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “FRIDAY, October 24, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 518; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, , volume VI, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC, page 12:

     As you have considered human nature in all its lights, you must be extremely well apprised, that there is a very close correspondence between the outward and the inward man; […]

     The spelling has been modernized.

   • a. 1720 (date written), Joseph Addison, “Section VI. Excellency of the Christian Institution.”, in The Evidences of the Christian Religion, , London: J Tonson , published 1730, →OCLC, subsection I, pages 46–47:

     Thus far vve ſee hovv the learned Pagans might apprize themſelves from oral information of the particulars of our Saviour's hiſtory.

   • 1741, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXX”, in Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded. , 3rd edition, volume I, London: C Rivington, ; and J. Osborn, , →OCLC, page 117:

     As ſhe is a mighty Letter-vvriter, I hope ſhe has had the Duty to apprize you of her Intrigue vvith the young Clergyman; […]

   • a. 1798 (date written), Horace Walpole, chapter XVII, in Denis Le Marchant, editor, Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third. , volume I, London: Richard Bentley , published 1845, →OCLC, page 258:

     […] Fox, he said, he knew would not have engaged in the management of the Parliament, had he been apprized that he (Bute) intended to retire, and it had been necessary to the King's affairs that Fox should carry them through the session.

   • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter VII, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. , volume I, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. , →OCLC, page 115:

     He led the way to the adjoining cell, which, as the reader is apprised, was occupied by Gurth the swine-herd.— […]

     Due to an error, there are two chapters numbered VII; this is the second one.

   • 1849, Herman Melville, “My Lord Shark and His Pages”, in Mardi: And a Voyage Thither. , volume I, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers, , →OCLC, page 69:

     But when it is considered, that by a reciprocal understanding, the Pilot fish seem to act as scouts to the shark, warning him of danger, and apprising him of the vicinity of prey; and moreover, in case of his being killed, evincing their anguish by certain agitations, otherwise inexplicable; the whole thing becomes a mystery unfathomable.

   • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Midnight Aloft—Thunder and Lightning”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, pages 566–567:

     In compliance with the standing order of his commander—to report immediately, and at any one of the twenty-four hours, any decided change in the affairs of the deck,—Starbuck had no sooner trimmed the yards to the breeze—however reluctantly and gloomily,—than he mechanically went below to apprise Captain Ahab of the circumstance.

   • 1858, “Chief of Sinners” , An Earnest Exhortation to Christian Unity, , London: Partridge and Co., , →OCLC, page 280:

     Our Gracious Lawgiver then warningly appriseth His Apostles, and Disciples, and per inference, of course, all Ministers, Preachers, and Teachers of His Holy Gospel throughout all ages, that, […] should they themselves be guilty of the breach of the least of them [i.e., the Commandments]; that be he, or they, whosoever he, or they, may be, shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.

   • 1869, William Ewart Gladstone, “Miscellaneous”, in Juventus Mundi: The Gods and Men of the Heroic Age, London: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, section I (The Idea of Beauty in Homer), page 519:

     Again, Telemachos apprises Menelaos that Ithaca is a goat-feeding island, without meadows, and more epēratos than a horse-feeding country.

   • 1871, John Hunter, [William] Shakespeare, Shakespeare’s King Henry IV. Part I. , London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, act II, scene i, page 34, footnote 1:

     Thou apprisest the thief when an opportunity will occur.

   • 1962 October, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—II”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 170:

     The object is to keep the yard operators apprised of main-line movements, so that they do not plan to occupy the main lines with activity into or out of the yard at an inopportune juncture.

   • 2019 November 6, Paul Stephen, “Cowden: A Crash Radio could have Prevented”, in Rail, number 891, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 72:

     The signalman rapidly apprised the Railtrack Control Centre at Croydon of the unfolding disaster, and asked them to pre-emptively call the emergency services.

   • 2021 March 29, Gerhard Peters, John T. Woolley, “Fact Sheet: The Biden–Harris Administration’s Multi-Agency Effort to Support Renters and Landlords”, in The American Presidency Project‎, Santa Barbara, Calif.: University of California, Santa Barbara, archived from the original on 17 November 2022:

     The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] will be monitoring and investigating eviction practices to ensure that companies are complying with the law. Evicting tenants in violation of the CDC, state, or local moratoria, or threatening to evict them without apprising them of their legal rights under such moratoria, may violate the law.

2. (rare) To formally impart (information) to someone; to advise, to notify.
   • 1817 October 23, Lord Byron, “Letter CCC. To Mr. Murray.”, in Thomas Moore, editor, Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, , volume II, London: John Murray, , published 1830, →OCLC, page 151:

     P.S. Morlands have not yet written to my bankers apprizing the payment of your balances; pray desire them to do so.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with appraise.

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• apprize (archaic)

Derived terms

• apprisal
• reapprise
• unapprised

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English aprisen, apprisen (“to determine or estimate the value of (something), to appraise, evaluate; to regard (something) as important, valuable, or worthy, to esteem, prize; to praise or worship (God)”), and then either:

• from Old French apriser, aprisier (“to appraise, evaluate”), from à (“to”) + prisier, preisier (“to attribute a value to, to appraise, value”) (from Latin pretiāre, the present active infinitive of pretiō (“(Late Latin) to consider valuable, hold in high regard, to esteem, prize, value; (Medieval Latin) to estimate the worth of, appraise, assess, value”), from pretium + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)); or
• from Old French à pris (“to (put a) price (on)”) (pris (“price; esteem, (positive) reputation”) is derived from Latin pretium).

Pretium (“cost, price; value, worth”) is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, in front; first”). The English word is a doublet of appraise, appreciate, praise, price, and prize.

Verb

apprise (third-person singular simple present apprises, present participle apprising, simple past and past participle apprised) (transitive, archaic)

1. Synonym of appraise (“to determine the value or worth of (something)”)
   • 1614, Daniell Dyke [i.e., Daniel Dyke], “The Answering of the Obiection which the Deceitfull Heart of Man Might Gather out of the Former Doctrine of the Heartes Deceitfulnesse”, in I[eremiah] D[yke], editor, The Mystery of Selfe-deceiving. Or A Discourse and Discouery of the Deceitfulnesse of Mans Heart: , London: Edward Griffin, for Ralph Mab, , →OCLC, page 401:

     Theſe [people] muſt remember, hovv highly God apprizeth good purpoſes, and deſires, accepting, and revvarding them, vvhen they come to him, as if they came accompanied vvith the deeds themſelues.

   • 1869, Robert Browning, “VIII. Dominus Hyacinthus de Archangelis.”, in The Ring and the Book. , volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., →OCLC, page 121, lines 667–671:

     [W]hosoever, at the proper worth, / Apprises worldly honour and repute, / Esteems it nobler to die honoured man / Beneath Mannaia, than live centuries / Disgraced in the eye o' the world.

2. (specifically, Scots law) To put a price on (something) for the purpose of sale; to appraise.
   • 1681, James Dalrymple of Stair [i.e., James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair], “Extinction of Infeftments”, in The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, , 1st part, Edinburgh: Heir of Andrew Anderson, , →OCLC, page 416:

     Infeftments are alſo extinct, vvhen the Superior adjudgeth or appriſeth from his Vaſſal; for thereby it vvas found, that the Property vvas Conſolidat vvith the Superiority,

   • 1832, James, Viscount of Stair [i.e., James Dalrymple, 1st Viscount of Stair], John S[hank] More, “Title V. Infeftments of Annualrent, where, of Poinding of the Ground, and of Pensions.”, in The Institutions of the Law of Scotland, , new edition, volume I, Edinburgh: for Bell & Bradfute, →OCLC, page 387:

     [T]he infeftment of annualrent, being jus sed ignobilius, becomes extinct, if the annualrenter thereupon do apprise the property, and be infeft: and therefore, whoever appriseth for any years of the annualrent, the infeftment thereof, unless it be taken away by satisfaction or redemption, extinguisheth the infeftment of annualrent, without distinction whether the apprising be led for any years belonging to the fiar, liferenter, or any other.

Conjugation

Alternative forms

• apprize

Derived terms

• apprisable (obsolete, rare)
• appriser, apprizer
• apprising, apprizing (noun)

Related terms

• apprisement, apprizement (obsolete, rare)

Translations

References

Anagrams

• sappier

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.pʁiz/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iz

Adjective

apprise

1. feminine singular of appris

Participle

apprise f sg

1. feminine singular of appris

Further reading

• “apprise”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• papiers
• piperas
• repipas