understanding

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable, with-of) The act of one that understands or comprehends; the mental process of discernment of meaning.
2. (countable, with-of) Reason or intelligence; ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge; ability to infer.
3. (countable, with-of) Opinion, judgement, or outlook.
4. (countable, uncountable, with-of) An agreement of minds; harmony; something mutually understood or agreed upon.
5. (countable, uncountable, with-of) An agreement of minds; harmony; something mutually understood or agreed upon.
6. (uncountable, with-of) Sympathy.

Adj

1. Showing compassion, tolerance, and forbearance; sympathetically aware.
2. (dated) Knowing; skilful.

Verb

present participle and gerund of understand

understand

1. (intransitive, transitive) (of communication or means of communication: words, statements, signs, etc.) To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.
2. (intransitive, transitive) (of communication or means of communication: words, statements, signs, etc.) To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.
3. (transitive) (of a skill, task, profession, etc.) To be thoroughly familiar with; to be able to undertake properly.
4. (transitive, usually) To comprehend a fact or principle; to regard or come to regard a belief as such.
5. (transitive) (of people) To know the intent, motives or character of; (of events) to know the causes of or reasons for.
6. (transitive) To believe or infer, to think one grasps sufficiently despite potentially incomplete knowledge.
7. (transitive) To regard as present when not.
8. (humorous, rare) To stand underneath, to support.

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Synonyms

comprehension

knowledge

intelligence

intellect

wisdom

perception

sense

agreement

knowing

sympathy

insight

grasp

reason

apprehension

realization

awareness

mind

rapport

discernment

sympathetic

consent

feeling

cognition

appreciation

conception

empathy

familiarity

compassionate

relationship

acknowledgment

acknowledgement

understand

skill

savvy

relation

entente

learning

judgement

interpretation

wit

sensible

recognition

compassion

arrangement

perceiving

acquaintance

mutual understanding

consciousness

notion

concord

Translations

compréhension

Verständnis

comprensione

comprensión

Verstehen

entente

entendimiento

accord

begrip

compreensão

Begreifen

entendimento

acuerdo

abord

verstandhouding

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʌndəˈstandɪŋ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: understandinge

Inherited from Old English: understanding

Cognate with Middle Dutch: onderstaninge

Cognate with Middle Low German: understandinge

Cognate with Middle High German: understandunge

Inherited from Middle English: understandyng

Inherited from Old English: understandende

In summary

From Middle English understandinge, understondinge, from Old English understanding (“intelligence, understanding”), from Proto-West Germanic *undarstandingu, from Proto-Germanic *understandingō, equivalent to understand + -ing (gerund ending). Cognate with Middle Dutch onderstaninge, Middle Low German understandinge, Middle High German understandunge.

Sentences

More years of research were spent understanding the reactions involved .

Historians have often identified an anticipated future revolution , often without the ruling party's understanding .