Rule 170 “Perceive” means to acquire knowledge through one’s senses.

When courts talk about "perceiving" something, they mean that a person directly experienced it through their senses. This includes seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting something.

This matters in court because witnesses are generally only allowed to testify about things they personally experienced. If you saw a car crash happen, you perceived it. If someone just told you about it, you did not perceive it yourself.