Receive Meaning
/ɹɪˈsiːv/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo be given, sent, or paid something.
verbTo take, as something that is offered; to accept.
Sentence Examples
I stayed home last night to be able to receive your call.
The law enables us to receive an annuity.
You should receive a reply within seven days.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She was happy to ____ a letter from her best friend who moved away.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She was thrilled to ____ a handwritten letter from her favorite author in response to her fan mail.
Word Origin & History
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).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXIX, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 305:
"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."
— 2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, London: Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 May 2013, page 74:
"Our hearts receiue your warnings."
— c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 235, column 1:
"The idea of solidity we receive by our touch."
— 1689, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding:
"[T]he braſen Altar that was before the Lord was too little to receiue the burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Kings 8:64, column 1:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She was happy to ____ a letter from her best friend who moved away.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She was thrilled to ____ a handwritten letter from her favorite author in response to her fan mail.