French word

saisir

Pronunciation

IPA/seziʁ/

Meaning

  • verbgrab

Example

Je saisis la poignée.

I grab the handle.

Illustration for saisir (grab)

More examples

Il saisit l'occasion sans hésiter.

He seized the opportunity without hesitation.

Core concept

A hand closes around something, then holds it firmly in the mind, in a record, or under legal control.

Common phrases

  • saisir l'occasion

    seize the opportunity

  • saisir le sens

    grasp the meaning

Similar words

comprendre: To understand the meaning of speech or an explanation.
prendre: To take an object in the hand and hold it.
attraper: To catch a moving or falling object with a hand or tool.

Definition in French

Comprendre ou percevoir clairement quelque chose; le verbe s'emploie aussi pour saisir physiquement un objet, enregistrer une donnée ou, en droit, saisir un bien.

Word origin

Saisir comes from Old French saisir or seisir, whose early sense was to take possession, with physical, mental, recorded, and legal uses developing from that idea.

Usage tips

  • Saisir takes a direct object in phrases such as saisir une idée, without a preposition before the thing understood.

Other meanings

  • understandverb
  • enterverb
  • seizeverb

Opposites

Related words

Word lists with this word