com·pre·hend   (kŏm'prĭ-hěnd')    tr.v.   com·pre·hend·ed, com·pre·hend·ing, com·pre·hends To take in the meaning, nature, or importance of; grasp. See Synonyms at apprehend. To take in as a part; include. See Synonyms at include. [Middle English comprehenden, from Latin comprehendere : com-, com- + prehendere, to grasp; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.] com'pre·hend'i·ble adj., com'pre·hend'ing·ly adv.

Comprehend

Com`pre*hend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Comprehended; p. pr. & vb. n. Comprehending.] [L. comprehendere, comprehensum; com- + prehendere to grasp, seize; prae before + hendere (used only in comp.). See Get, and cf. Comprise.]

1. To contain; to embrace; to include; as, the states comprehended in the Austrian Empire.

Who hath . . . comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure. --Is. xl. 12.

2. To take in or include by construction or implication; to comprise; to imply.

Comprehended all in this one word, Discretion. --Hobbes.

And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying. --Rom. xiii. 9.

3. To take into the mind; to grasp with the understanding; to apprehend the meaning of; to understand.

At a loss to comprehend the question. --W. Irwing.

Great things doeth he, which we can not comprehend. --Job. xxxvii. 5.

Syn: To contain; include; embrace; comprise; inclose; grasp; embody; involve; imply; apprehend; imagine; conceive; understand. See Apprehend.

comprehend