12 results for: understanding Browse Nearby Entries
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
un·der·stand·ing    Audio Help   [uhn-der-stan-ding] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.
2.intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind: a quick understanding.
3.superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence: With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.
4.knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something: an understanding of accounting practice.
5.a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people: To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.
6.a mutual agreement, esp. of a private, unannounced, or tacit kind: They had an understanding about who would do the dishes.
7.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.
8.Philosophy.
a.the power of abstract thought; logical power.
b.Kantianism. the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.
–adjective
9.characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude.

[Origin: bef. 1050; ME understandynge, late OE understandincge (n.). See understand, -ing1, -ing2]

un·der·stand·ing·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
understanding

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© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
un·der·stand    Audio Help   [uhn-der-stand] Pronunciation Key verb, -stood, -stand·ing.
–verb (used with object)
1.to perceive the meaning of; grasp the idea of; comprehend: to understand Spanish; I didn't understand your question.
2.to be thoroughly familiar with; apprehend clearly the character, nature, or subtleties of: to understand a trade.
3.to assign a meaning to; interpret: He understood her suggestion as a complaint.
4.to grasp the significance, implications, or importance of: He does not understand responsibility.
5.to regard as firmly communicated; take as agreed or settled: I understand that you will repay this loan in 30 days.
6.to learn or hear: I understand that you are going out of town.
7.to accept as true; believe: I understand that you are trying to be truthful, but you are wrong.
8.to construe in a particular way: You are to understand the phrase literally.
9.to supply mentally (something that is not expressed).
–verb (used without object)
10.to perceive what is meant; grasp the information conveyed: She told them about it in simple words, hoping they would understand.
11.to accept tolerantly or sympathetically: If you can't do it, I'll understand.
12.to have knowledge or background, as on a particular subject: He understands about boats.
13.to have a systematic interpretation or rationale, as in a field or area of knowledge: He can repeat every rule in the book, but he just doesn't understand.

[Origin: bef. 900; ME understanden, understonden, OE understondan; c. D onderstaan. See under-, stand]

1. See know1.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un·der·stand    Audio Help   (ŭn'dər-stānd')  Pronunciation Key 
v.   un·der·stood (-stŏŏd'), un·der·stand·ing, un·der·stands

v.   tr.
  1. To perceive and comprehend the nature and significance of; grasp. See Synonyms at apprehend.
  2. To know thoroughly by close contact or long experience with: That teacher understands children.
    1. To grasp or comprehend the meaning intended or expressed by (another): They have trouble with English, but I can understand them.
    2. To comprehend the language, sounds, form, or symbols of.
  3. To know and be tolerant or sympathetic toward: I can understand your point of view even though I disagree with it.
  4. To learn indirectly, as by hearsay: I understand his departure was unexpected.
  5. To infer: Am I to understand you are staying the night?
  6. To accept (something) as an agreed fact: It is understood that the fee will be 50 dollars.
  7. To supply or add (words or a meaning, for example) mentally.

v.   intr.
    1. To have understanding, knowledge, or comprehension.
    2. To have sympathy or tolerance.
  1. To learn something indirectly or secondhand; gather.


[Middle English understanden, from Old English understandan : under-, under- + standan, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
un·der·stand·ing    Audio Help   (ŭn'dər-stān'dĭng)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. The quality or condition of one who understands; comprehension.
  2. The faculty by which one understands; intelligence. See Synonyms at reason.
  3. Individual or specified judgment or outlook; opinion.
    1. A compact implicit between two or more people or groups.
    2. The matter implicit in such a compact.
  4. A reconciliation of differences; a state of agreement: They finally reached an understanding.
  5. A disposition to appreciate or share the feelings and thoughts of others; sympathy.

adj.  
  1. Characterized by or having comprehension, good sense, or discernment.
  2. Compassionate; sympathetic.

un'der·stand'ing·ly adv.
(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
understanding 
O.E. understandincge "comprehension," from understand (q.v.). Meaning "mutual agreement" is attested from 1803.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
understanding

adjective
1. characterized by understanding based on comprehension and discernment and empathy; "an understanding friend" 

noun
1. the cognitive condition of someone who understands; "he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect" 
2. the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises; "they had an agreement that they would not interfere in each other's business"; "there was an understanding between management and the workers" [syn: agreement
3. an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion; "his sympathies were always with the underdog"; "I knew I could count on his understanding" [syn: sympathy
4. the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination; "we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil" [syn: reason

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ˌunderˈstanding adjective
(of a person) good at knowing how other people feel; sympathetic
Example: an understanding person; Try to be more understanding!
Arabic: مُتَفَهِّم
Chinese (Simplified): 有同情心的
Chinese (Traditional): 有同情心的
Czech: chápající
Danish: forstående
Dutch: begripvol
Estonian: mõistev
Finnish: ymmärtävä
French: compréhensif
German: verständnisvoll
Greek: που δείχνει κατανόηση (για πρόσωπο)
Hungarian: megértő
Icelandic: skilningsríkur
Italian: comprensivo
Japanese: 理解のある
Latvian: saprotošs; iejūtīgs
Lithuanian: atjauèiantis, supratingas
Norwegian: forståelsesfull
Polish: wyrozumiały
Portuguese (Portugal): compreensivo
Russian: отзывчивый
Slovak: chápajúci
Slovenian: razumevajoč
Spanish: comprensivo
Swedish: förstående
Turkish: anlayışlı, hoşgörülü
ˌunderˈstanding1 noun
the power of thinking clearly
Example: a man of great understanding
Arabic: فَهْم، إدْراك
Chinese (Simplified): 领会
Chinese (Traditional): 領會
Czech: inteligence
Danish: forstand
Dutch: verstand
Estonian: mõistus
Finnish: ymmärrys
French: intelligence
German: der Verstand
Greek: αντίληψη
Hungarian: értelmi képesség
Icelandic: skilningur
Italian: intelligenza
Japanese: 理解力
Latvian: saprāts; izpratne
Lithuanian: supratimas, išmanymas
Norwegian: forståelse, forstand, dømmekraft
Polish: rozum
Portuguese (Portugal): intelecto
Russian: понимание
Slovak: inteligencia
Slovenian: razum
Spanish: inteligencia, entendimiento
Swedish: förstånd, klokhet
Turkish: kavrama, anlama, anlayış
ˌunderˈstanding2 noun
the ability to sympathize with another person's feelings
Example: His kindness and understanding were a great comfort to her.
Arabic: تَفَهُّم
Chinese (Simplified): 谅解
Chinese (Traditional): 諒解
Czech: porozumění
Danish: forståelse
Dutch: begrip
Estonian: mõistvus
Finnish: ymmärtämys
French: compréhension
German: das Verständnis
Greek: κατανόηση
Hungarian: megértés
Icelandic: skilningur
Italian: comprensione
Japanese: 理解
Latvian: izpratne; iejūtība
Lithuanian: atjauta, supratingumas
Norwegian: forståelse, innsikt
Polish: zrozumienie
Portuguese (Portugal): compreensão
Russian: отзывчивость
Slovak: porozumenie
Slovenian: razumevanje
Spanish: comprensión
Swedish: förstående inställning
Turkish: anlayış, hâlden anlama
ˌunderˈstanding3 noun
a (state of) informal agreement
Example: The two men have come to / reached an understanding after their disagreement.
Arabic: تَفاهُم
Chinese (Simplified): 协议
Chinese (Traditional): 協議
Czech: shoda
Danish: forståelse
Dutch: verstandhouding
Estonian: kokkulepe
Finnish: sopimus
French: entente
German: die Einigung
Greek: συνεννόηση, συμφωνία
Hungarian: megállapodás
Icelandic: samkomulag
Italian: accordo
Japanese: 了解
Latvian: saprašanās; vienošanās
Lithuanian: supratimas, susitarimas
Norwegian: forståelse
Polish: porozumienie
Portuguese (Portugal): acordo
Russian: договорённость
Slovak: zhoda
Slovenian: sporazum
Spanish: entendimiento
Swedish: överenskommelse, samförstånd
Turkish: anlaşma
See also: understandable, make (oneself) understood, understand

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Understanding

Sense\, n. [L. sensus, from sentire, sensum, to perceive, to feel, from the same root as E. send; cf. OHG. sin sense, mind, sinnan to go, to journey, G. sinnen to meditate, to think: cf. F. sens. For the change of meaning cf. See, v. t. See Send, and cf. Assent, Consent, Scent, v. t., Sentence, Sentient.]

1. (Physiol.) A faculty, possessed by animals, of perceiving external objects by means of impressions made upon certain organs (sensory or sense organs) of the body, or of perceiving changes in the condition of the body; as, the senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. See Muscular sense, under Muscular, and Temperature sense, under Temperature.

Let fancy still my sense in Lethe steep. --Shak.

What surmounts the reach Of human sense I shall delineate. --Milton.

The traitor Sense recalls The soaring soul from rest. --Keble.

2. Perception by the sensory organs of the body; sensation; sensibility; feeling.

In a living creature, though never so great, the sense and the affects of any one part of the body instantly make a transcursion through the whole. --Bacon.

3. Perception through the intellect; apprehension; recognition; understanding; discernment; appreciation.

This Basilius, having the quick sense of a lover. --Sir P. Sidney.

High disdain from sense of injured merit. --Milton.

4. Sound perception and reasoning; correct judgment; good mental capacity; understanding; also, that which is sound, true, or reasonable; rational meaning. "He speaks sense." --Shak.

He raves; his words are loose As heaps of sand, and scattering wide from sense. --Dryden.

5. That which is felt or is held as a sentiment, view, or opinion; judgment; notion; opinion.

I speak my private but impartial sense With freedom. --Roscommon.

The municipal council of the city had ceased to speak the sense of the citizens. --Macaulay.

6. Meaning; import; signification; as, the true sense of words or phrases; the sense of a remark.

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense. --Neh. viii. 8.

I think 't was in another sense. --Shak.

7. Moral perception or appreciation.

Some are so hardened in wickedness as to have no sense of the most friendly offices. --L' Estrange.

8. (Geom.) One of two opposite directions in which a line, surface, or volume, may be supposed to be described by the motion of a point, line, or surface.

Common sense, according to Sir W. Hamilton: (a) "The complement of those cognitions or convictions which we receive from nature, which all men possess in common, and by which they test the truth of knowledge and the morality of actions." (b) "The faculty of first principles." These two are the philosophical significations. (c) "Such ordinary complement of intelligence, that,if a person be deficient therein, he is accounted mad or foolish." (d) When the substantive is emphasized: "Native practical intelligence, natural prudence, mother wit, tact in behavior, acuteness in the observation of character, in contrast to habits of acquired learning or of speculation."

Moral sense. See under Moral, (a) .

The inner, or internal, sense, capacity of the mind to be aware of its own states; consciousness; reflection. "This source of ideas every man has wholly in himself, and though it be not sense, as having nothing to do with external objects, yet it is very like it, and might properly enough be called internal sense." --Locke.

Sense capsule (Anat.), one of the cartilaginous or bony cavities which inclose, more or less completely, the organs of smell, sight, and hearing.

Sense organ (Physiol.), a specially irritable mechanism by which some one natural force or form of energy is enabled to excite sensory nerves; as the eye, ear, an end bulb or tactile corpuscle, etc.

Sense organule (Anat.), one of the modified epithelial cells in or near which the fibers of the sensory nerves terminate.

Syn: Understanding; reason.

Usage: Sense, Understanding, Reason. Some philosophers have given a technical signification to these terms, which may here be stated. Sense is the mind's acting in the direct cognition either of material objects or of its own mental states. In the first case it is called the outer, in the second the inner, sense. Understanding is the logical faculty, i. e., the power of apprehending under general conceptions, or the power of classifying, arranging, and making deductions. Reason is the power of apprehending those first or fundamental truths or principles which are the conditions of all real and scientific knowledge, and which control the mind in all its processes of investigation and deduction. These distinctions are given, not as established, but simply because they often occur in writers of the present day.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Understanding

Un`der*stand"\ ([u^]n`d[~e]r*st[a^]nd"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Understood, and Archaic Understanded; p. pr. & vb. n. Understanding.] [OE. understanden, AS. understandan, literally, to stand under; cf. AS. forstandan to understand, G. verstehen. The development of sense is not clear. See Under, and Stand.]

1. To have just and adequate ideas of; to apprehended the meaning or intention of; to have knowledge of; to comprehend; to know; as, to understand a problem in Euclid; to understand a proposition or a declaration; the court understands the advocate or his argument; to understand the sacred oracles; to understand a nod or a wink.

Speaketh [i. e., speak thou] so plain at this time, I you pray, That we may understande what ye say. --Chaucer.

I understand not what you mean by this. --Shak.

Understood not all was but a show. --Milton.

A tongue not understanded of the people. --Bk. of Com. Prayer.

2. To be apprised, or have information, of; to learn; to be informed of; to hear; as, I understand that Congress has passed the bill.

3. To recognize or hold as being or signifying; to suppose to mean; to interpret; to explain.

The most learned interpreters understood the words of sin, and not of Abel. --Locke.

4. To mean without expressing; to imply tacitly; to take for granted; to assume.

War, then, war, Open or understood, must be resolved. --Milton.

5. To stand under; to support. [Jocose & R.] --Shak.

To give one to understand, to cause one to know.

To make one's self understood, to make one's meaning clear.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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