PERCEP'TION, n. [L. perceptio. See Perceive.] 1. The act of perceiving or of receiving impressions by the senses; or that act or process of the mind which makes known an external object. In other words, the notice which the mind takes of external objects. We gain a knowledge of the coldness and smoothness of marble by perception.2. In philosophy, the faculty of perceiving; the faculty or peculiar part of man's constitution, by which he has knowledge through the medium or instrumentality of the bodily organs.3. Notion; idea.4. The state of being affected or capable of being affected by something external. This experiment discovers perception in plants.
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