understanding
mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.
intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind:a quick understanding.
superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence: With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.
knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something: an understanding of accounting practice.
a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people: To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.
a mutual agreement, especially of a private, unannounced, or tacit kind: They had an understanding about who would do the dishes.
an agreement regulating joint activity or settling differences, often informal or preliminary in character: After hours of negotiation, no understanding on a new contract was reached.
Philosophy.
the power of abstract thought; logical power.
Kantianism. the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.
characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude.
Origin of understanding
1Other words from understanding
- un·der·stand·ing·ly, adverb
- non·un·der·stand·ing, adjective, noun
- non·un·der·stand·ing·ly, adverb
- self-un·der·stand·ing, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for understanding
/ (ˌʌndəˈstændɪŋ) /
the ability to learn, judge, make decisions, etc; intelligence or sense
personal opinion or interpretation of a subject: my understanding of your predicament
a mutual agreement or compact, esp an informal or private one
mainly British an unofficial engagement to be married
philosophy archaic the mind, esp the faculty of reason
on the understanding that with the condition that; providing
sympathetic, tolerant, or wise towards people
possessing judgment and intelligence
Derived forms of understanding
- understandingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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