reprehend, v.
(rɛprɪˈhɛnd)
[ad. L. reprehendĕre, f. re- re- + prehendĕre to seize: cf. apprehend, etc. Hence also F. reprendre.]
1. trans. To reprove, reprimand, rebuke, censure, find fault with: a. a person.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxxxiv. 15 He scornys þe honurrers of mawmetis and reprehendis þaim. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 510 Thow were ay wont eche louere reprehende Of þing fro which þow kanst þe nought defende. c 1450 tr. De Imitatione ii. vi. 46 Thou shalt rest swetly if þyn herte reprehende þe not. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xix. 69 It semeth that thou oughte not in no wyse to reprehende me. 1530 Palsgr. 687/1 He reprehended me afore al the companye. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 367 Cortes hearing their odious request reprehended them. 1601 F. Godwin Bps. of Eng. 267 For which fact he was bold to reprehend his holinesse sharpely. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxii. 123 Yet was their Assembly judged Unlawfull, and the Magistrate reprehended them for it. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) II. xxviii. 179, I severely reprehend him on this occasion. 1828 Landor Imag. Conv., Southey & Porson ii, If..I am unjust in a single tittle, reprehend me instantly. 1839 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. ix. (1847) 94 Theodoric.., having been reprehended by him, became his enemy. |
b. a thing, action, conduct, etc.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xlii. 5 Þof men kan fynd noght to reprehend, god kan. c 1375 in Rel. Ant. I. 39 He that bysyeth hym to lyve piteuosly, he wurchipet God and holy writ, and reprehendet no thing that he undurstondet not. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 201 Whanne a man leeviþ to reprehende an opyn synne. c 1475 Babees Bk. 29 Therfore I pray that no man Reprehende This lytyl Book. a 1529 Skelton Agst. Garnesche iii. 16 Lewdely your tyme ye spende, My lyuyng to reprehende. 1567 Trial Treas. (1850) 7 It is an harde thing..For a foolishe man to haue his maners reprehended. 1612 T. Taylor Comm. Titus ii. 6 This doctrine reprehendeth a common error in the world. 1657 Trapp Comm. Job v. 9 It is extreme folly to reprehend what we cannot comprehend. 1708 J. Philips Cyder i. 78, I nor advise, nor reprehend the Choice. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 203, I had..much to reprehend, and much to wish changed, in many of the old tenures. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis lxii, I..most strongly reprehend any man's departure from his word. 1876 E. Mellor Priesth. vii. 313 With a haste and recklessness which cannot be too severely reprehended. |
c. absol.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 436 Gentles, doe not reprehend. If you pardon, we will mend. 1846 Trench Mirac. xxx. (1862) 433 The very same who at the first reprehended, will in the end applaud. |
† 2. To refute, prove to be fallacious. Obs. rare.
| 1597 Bacon Coulers Good & Evill §3 But that denieth the supposition, it doth not reprehend the fallax. Ibid. §5 This coulour will bee reprehended or incountred by imputing to all excellencie in compositions a kind of pouertie. |
† 3. Sc. To take (one) in wrong doing. Obs.—1
| 1538 Aberdeen Regr. (1844) I. 156 It selbe lesum to quhatsumever nychtbour that reprehendis the layaris of the said fulze to tak the veschell..quhill thai be punyst. |
¶ 4. Misused by ignorant speakers for ‘represent’ and ‘apprehend.’
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. i. 184 Constable, I my selfe reprehend his owne person, for I am his graces Tharborough. 1714 Gay What d'ye call it ii. vii, Constable, Friends, reprehend him, reprehend him there. [They seize the Sergeant.] |
Hence repreˈhending vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 68/2 The cause of whose martirdome was the reprehending of Idolatrie. 1611 Rich Honest. Age Epil. (1844) 68 Such a kinde of subiect, as is..fitting to be roughly rubbed with a reprehending veritie. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 60 To shun reprehending of Master workmen openly. |