receive
/ɹɪˈsiv/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.85 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To act as a host for guests; to give admittance to; to permit to enter, as into one's house, presence, company, etc.
Transitive verb
verb
To detect a signal from a transmitter.
verb
To be in a position to take possession, or hit back the ball.
Example Sentences
- "He received many presents for his birthday."
- "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."
- "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."
- "He had the offer of employment, but he would not receive it."
- "Our hearts receiue your warnings."
- "The idea of solidity we receive by our touch."
Etymology
From Middle English receyven, from Old French receivre, from Latin recipere (“take back, accept, etc.”), from re- (“back”) + capiō (“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 þiċġan), and non-native Middle English aquilen, enquilen (“to receive”) (from Old French aquillir, encueillir).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *keh₂p-, receyven, recevoir, recipiō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ɹɪˈsiv/
- British English: /ɹɪˈsiːv/
Usage
Inflected Forms
receives (present, singular)
receiving (participle, present)
received (participle, past)
received (past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
received (first person, past)
receivest (archaic, present)
received (past, second person)
receivedst (archaic, past)
receiveth (archaic, present)
received (past, singular)