prehensile

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object

   A monkey's prehensile tail.

2. 2
   adj

   having a keen intellect

   Poets--those gifted strangely prehensile men- A.T.Quiller-Couch.

3. 3
   adj

   Able to take hold of and clasp objects; adapted for grasping especially by wrapping around an object.

   Some monkeys have prehensile tails which they use to pick things up.

4. 4
   adj

   immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Prehensile, recorded in the late 18th century, comes from the Latin word family of prehendere, meaning “to seize.”

Borrowed from French préhensile, from Latin perfect passive participle prehēnsus, from prehendō (“grasp, seize”) + adjective suffix -ile, from Latin -ilis.

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