comprehendible (adj.)

mid-14c., "to understand, take into the mind, grasp by understanding," late 14c., "to take in, include;" from Latin comprehendere "to take together, to unite; include; seize" (of catching fire or the arrest of criminals); also "to comprehend, perceive" (to seize or take in the mind), from com "with, together," here probably "completely" (see com-) + prehendere "to catch hold of, seize."

The (partial) range of senses in Latin prehendere was "to lay hold of, to grasp, snatch, seize, catch; occupy violently; take by surprise, catch in the act; to reach, arrive at;" of trees, "to take root;" of the mind, "to seize, apprehend, comprehend," though this last sense is marked "very rare" in Lewis & Short.

It is a compound of  prae- "before" (see pre-) + -hendere, found only in compounds, from PIE root *ghend- "to seize, take." De Vaan regards the compound as Proto-Italic. Related: Comprehended; comprehending.

Compare the sense development in German begriefen, literally "to seize," but, through the writings of the 14c. mystics, "to seize with the mind, to comprehend."

word-forming element making adjectives from verbs, borrowed in Middle English from Old French -ible and directly from Latin adjective suffix -ibilis (properly -bilis); see -able.

1520s, "able to be contained," from Latin comprehensibilis, from comprehensus, past participle of comphrehendere (see comprehend). Meaning "able to be understood, capable of being conceived by the mind" is from c. 1600. Related: Comprehensibly; comprehensibility.