▪ I. † aˈpprise, n. Obs.
Forms: 4 apryse, 4–5 aprise, apprise.
[a. OF. aprise, -ize, ‘thing learned’; subst. use of fem. sing. of apris, pa. pple. of aprendre to learn: see next. For app- see ap- prefix1.]
That which is learned; lore, learning, instruction, information.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 3951 Ȝyf þou euere..Lettydyst any man for to lere Crafte..But fordeddyst hys aprise. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 81 Thus cam in the first apprise Of bokes. c 1425 Seven Sages (P.) 128 To ordayne..Or the childe ware sette aprise, Ware they myȝte a stude make. |
▪ II. apprise, v.1
(əˈpraɪz)
Also apprize.
[f. (in 17th c.) F. apprendre (OF. aprendre) to teach, inform (pa. pple. appris, -ise), on analogy of comprise, surprise, and Fr. comprendre, surprendre. A(p)prendre:—L. adprendĕre:—adprehendĕre ‘lay hold of,’ had passed from the sense of ‘lay hold with the mind, learn,’ to ‘teach, inform’: see apprehend. (The prec. n. was obs. bef. 1500, and had nothing to do with the formation of this vb.)]
1. To impart knowledge or information to; give formal notice to; inform, acquaint.
| 1694 Ld. Delamere Wks. 41 Though the King of England may be never so well apprized in the use of them. 1741 Richardson Pamela I. (1824) 52, I hope she has had the duty to apprise you of her intrigue with the young clergyman. 1801 M. Edgeworth Angelina iv. (1832) 61 Miss Hodges is above stairs—she shall be apprized directly. 1869 Gladstone Juv. Mundi xv. §1. 519 Telemachos apprises Menelaos that Ithaca is a goat-feeding island. |
b. Hence in pass. To be informed or aware, to know.
| 1712 Steele Spect. No. 518 ¶9 You must be extremely well apprised, that there is a very close correspondence. a 1797 H. Walpole George II (1847) I. iv. 89 The little Princes, less apprized of his history..talked a good deal to him. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe I. vi. 88 The adjoining cell, as the reader is apprised, was occupied by Gurth. |
c. refl. (= Fr. s'apprendre.)
| a 1719 Addison Chr. Relig. vi. i, The learned Pagans might apprise themselves from oral information. |
2. To give formal notice of, notify, advise. rare.
| 1817 Byron Wks. IV. 71 Morlands have not yet written to my bankers, apprising the payment of your balances. |