prehension

from WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)

prehension
    n 1: the act of gripping something firmly with the hands (or the
         tentacles) [syn: {grasping}, {taking hold}, {seizing},
         {prehension}]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Prehension \Pre*hen"sion\, n. [L. prehensio; cf. F.
   pr['e]hension. See {Prehensile}.]
   The act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping, as with the
   hand or other member.
   [1913 Webster]

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

PREHENSION. The lawful taking of a thing with an intent to, assert a right 
in it.

from Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

58 Moby Thesaurus words for "prehension":
      abduction, apprehension, arrest, arrestation, bottling up, capture,
      catch, catching, clairvoyance, collaring, command, comprehension,
      conception, conceptualization, corking up, coup, dragnet,
      forcible seizure, foreknowledge, grab, grabbing, grasp, grip, hold,
      holding, holding in, ideation, inhibition, intellection,
      intelligence, keeping, kidnapping, locking in, maintenance,
      mastery, mental grasp, nabbing, picking up, power grab,
      precognition, preservation, repression, retainment, retention,
      retentiveness, retentivity, running in, savvy, seizure,
      seizure of power, snatch, snatching, suppression, taking in,
      taking into custody, tenacity, understanding, wisdom