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Webster 1913 Edition

Receive

Re-ceive′

(rē̍-sēv′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Received
(rē̍-sēvd′)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Receiving
.]
[OF.
receveir
,
recevoir
, F.
recevoir
, fr. L.
recipere
; pref.
re-
re- +
capere
to take, seize. See
Capable
,
Heave
, and cf.
Receipt
,
Reception
,
Recipe
.]
1.
To take, as something that is offered, given, committed, sent, paid, or the like; to accept;
as, to
receive
money offered in payment of a debt; to
receive
a gift, a message, or a letter.
Receyven
all in gree that God us sent.
Chaucer.
2.
Hence: To gain the knowledge of; to take into the mind by assent to; to give admission to; to accept, as an opinion, notion, etc.; to embrace.
Our hearts
receive
your warnings.
Shakespeare
The idea of solidity we
receive
by our touch.
Locke.
3.
To allow, as a custom, tradition, or the like; to give credence or acceptance to.
Many other things there be which they have
received
to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots.
Mark vii. 4.
4.
To give admittance to; to permit to enter, as into one’s house, presence, company, and the like;
as, to
receive
a lodger, visitor, ambassador, messenger, etc.
They kindled a fire, and
received
us every one.
Acts xxviii. 2.
5.
To admit; to take in; to hold; to contain; to have capacity for; to be able to take in.
The brazen altar that was before the Lord was too little to
receive
the burnt offerings.
1 Kings viii. 64.
6.
To be affected by something; to suffer; to be subjected to;
as, to
receive
pleasure or pain; to
receive
a wound or a blow; to
receive
damage.
Against his will he can
receive
no harm.
Milton.
7.
To take from a thief, as goods known to be stolen.
8.
(Lawn Tennis)
To bat back (the ball) when served.
Receiving ship
,
one on board of which newly recruited sailors are received, and kept till drafted for service.
Syn. – To accept; take; allow; hold; retain; admit.
–
Receive
,
Accept
. To receive describes simply the act of taking. To accept denotes the taking with approval, or for the purposes for which a thing is offered. Thus, we receive a letter when it comes to hand; we receive news when it reaches us; we accept a present when it is offered; we accept an invitation to dine with a friend.
Who, if we knew
What we
receive
, would either not
accept

Life offered, or soon beg to lay it down.
Milton.

Re-ceive′

(rē̍-sēv′)
,
Verb.
I.
1.
To receive visitors; to be at home to receive calls;
as, she
receives
on Tuesdays
.
2.
(Lawn Tennis)
To return, or bat back, the ball when served;
as, it is your turn to
receive
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Receive

RECE'IVE

,
Verb.
T.
[L. recipio; re and capio, to take.]
1.
To take, as a thing offered or sent; to accept. He had the offer of a donation, but he would not receive it.
2.
To take as due or as a reward. He received the money on the day it was payable. He received ample compensation.
3.
To take or obtain from another in any manner, and either good or evil.
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? Job 2.
4.
To take, as a thing communicated; as, to receive a wound by a shot; to receive a disease by contagion.
The idea of a solidity we receive by our touch.
5.
To take or obtain intellectually; as, to receive an opinion or notion from others.
6.
To embrace.
Receive with meekness the engrafted word. James 1.
7.
To allow; to hold; to retain; as a custom long received.
8.
To admit.
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Ps. 73.
9.
To welcome; to lodge and entertain; as a guest.
They kindled a fire and received us every one, because of the present rain and because of the cold. Acts 28.
10.
To admit into membership or fellowship.
Him that is weak in the faith, receive ye. Rom. 14.
11.
To take in or on; to hold; to contain.
The brazen altar was too little to receive the burnt-offering. 1Kings 8.
12.
To be endowed with.
Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Acts 1.
13.
To take into a place or state.
After the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven. Mark 16.
14.
To take or have as something ascribed; as, to receive praise or blame. Rev. 4. Rev. 5.
15.
To bear with or suffer. 2Cor. 11.
16.
To believe in. John 1.
17.
To accept or admit officially or in an official character. The minister was received by the emperor or court.
18.
To take stolen goods from a thief, knowing them to be stolen.

Definition 2024

receive

receive

English

Alternative forms

Verb

receive ‎(third-person singular simple present receives, present participle receiving, simple past and past participle received)

  1. To take, as something that is offered, given, committed, sent, paid, etc.; to accept; to be given something.
    She received many presents for her birthday.‎
    • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
      Our hearts receive your warnings.
    • John Locke (1632-1705)
      The idea of solidity we receive by our touch.
    • Bible, 1 Kings viii.64:
      The brazen altar that was before the Lord was too little to receive the burnt offerings.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 19, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      Nothing was too small to receive attention, if a supervising eye could suggest improvements likely to conduce to the common welfare. Mr. Gordon Burnage, for instance, personally visited dust-bins and back premises, accompanied by a sort of village bailiff, going his round like a commanding officer doing billets.
    • 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, page 74:
      In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result.
  2. To take possession of.
  3. To act as a host for guests; to give admittance to; to permit to enter, as into one's house, presence, company, etc.
    to receive a lodger, visitor, ambassador, messenger, etc.‎
    • Bible, Acts xxviii.2:
      They kindled a fire, and received us every one.
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, chapter III:
      In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. […] Strangers might enter the room, but they were made to feel that they were there on sufferance: they were received with distance and suspicion.
  4. To suffer from (an injury).
    I received a bloody nose from the collision.‎
  5. To allow (a custom, tradition, etc.); to give credence or acceptance to.
    • Bible, Mark vii.4:
      Many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots.
  6. (telecommunications) To detect a signal from a transmitter.
  7. (sports) To be in a position to take possession, or hit back the ball.
    1. (tennis, badminton, squash (sport)) To be in a position to hit back a service.
    2. (American football) To be in a position to catch a forward pass.
  8. (transitive, intransitive) To accept into the mind; to understand.

Derived terms

  • RX (abbreviation)

Related terms

Translations

Noun

receive ‎(plural receives)

  1. (telecommunications) An operation in which data is received.
    sends and receives

External links

  • receive in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  • receive in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: pay · red · unto · #551: receive · tried · certainly · big

Etymology

From Middle English receiven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere, past participle receptus ‎(“to take back, get back, regain, recover, take to oneself, admit, accept, receive, take in, assume, allow, etc.”), from re- ‎(“back”) + capio ‎(“to take”); see capacious. Compare conceive, deceive, perceive. Displaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (e.g. afon, anfon, afangen, underfangen, etc. "to receive" from Old English -fōn), native Middle English thiggen ‎(“to receive”) (from Old English þicgan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen ‎(“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɹɪˈsiːv/
  • Rhymes: -iːv
  • Hyphenation: re‧ceive

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