Definition of: perception

(pər·sep′shən) noun
1. The act, power, process, or product of perceiving; knowledge through the senses of the existence and properties of matter and the external world.
2. Cognition of fact or truth in general by the activity of thinking: moral perception; apprehension; knowledge.
3. Psychol. a The faculty or power of acquiring immediate and fundamental knowledge through the senses: often called sense perception. b The process of acquiring such knowledge. c The mental product so obtained, often called the percept.
4. Any insight or intuitive judgment that implies unusual discernment of fact or truth.
5. Law The taking into possession, as of crops or profits. See synonyms Under KNOWLEDGE, SENSATION, UNDERSTANDING. [<OF <L perceptio, -onis a receiving <percipere PERCEIVE]
—per·cep′tion·al adjective