Receive Definition

rĭ-sēv
received, receives, receiving
verb
received, receives, receiving
To take or get (something given, offered, sent, etc.); acquire or accept.
Webster's New World
To be the person who gets (something sent or transmitted).
Receive an e-mail.
American Heritage
To have (a title, for example) bestowed on oneself.
American Heritage
To hear or see (information, for example).
Receive bad news.
American Heritage
To react to as specified.
A performance that was well received.
Webster's New World
Antonyms:
idiom
be on the receiving end
  • to be the recipient of a gift, or favor
  • to be the target or victim of an attack
Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Receive

  • be on the receiving end

Origin of Receive

  • 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. Replaced native Middle English terms in -fon/-fangen (eg. 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).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English receiven from Old North French receivre from Latin recipere re- re- capere to take kap- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to receive using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

receive