apprehension (n.)

late 14c., "perception, comprehension," from Old French apreension "comprehension, something learned" or directly from Latin apprehensionem (nominative apprehensio), noun of action from past-participle stem of apprehendere "take hold of, grasp" physically or mentally, from ad "to" (see ad-) + prehendere "to seize" (from prae- "before;" see pre- + -hendere, from PIE root *ghend- "to seize, take"). Sense of "seizure on behalf of authority" is 1570s; that of "anticipation" (usually with dread), "fear of the future" is from c. 1600.