Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Perceive

Perceive (pẽr*sēv") , transitive verb

[Old French percevoir, perceveir, Latin percipere, perceptum; per (see Per-) + capere to take, receive. See Capacious, and compare Perception.]

1.
To obtain knowledge of through the senses; to receive impressions from by means of the bodily organs; to take cognizance of the existence, character, or identity of, by means of the senses; to see, hear, or feel; as, to perceive a distant ship; to perceive a discord. — Reid
2.
To take intellectual cognizance of; to apprehend by the mind; to be convinced of by direct intuition; to note; to remark; to discern; to see; to understand.
Jesus perceived their wickedness. — Matt. xxii. 18
You may, fair lady, Perceive I speak sincerely. — Shakespeare
Till we ourselves see it with our own eyes, and perceive it by our own understandings, we are still in the dark. — Locke
3.
To be affected of influenced by. [Rare]
The upper regions of the air perceive the collection of the matter of tempests before the air here below. — Bacon