What does understanding mean?

Definitions for understanding
ˌʌn dərˈstæn dɪŋun·der·stand·ing

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word understanding.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. understanding, apprehension, discernment, savvynoun

    the cognitive condition of someone who understands

    "he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect"

  2. agreement, understandingnoun

    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"

  3. sympathy, understandingnoun

    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"

  4. reason, understanding, intellectadjective

    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"

  5. understandingadjective

    characterized by understanding based on comprehension and discernment and empathy

    "an understanding friend"

Wiktionary

  1. understandingnoun

    Mental, sometimes emotional process of comprehension, assimilation of knowledge, which is subjective by its nature.

  2. understandingnoun

    Reason or intelligence, ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge, ability to infer.

  3. understandingnoun

    Opinion, judgement or outlook.

    According to my understanding, the situation is quite perilous. I wonder if you see it this way, too.

  4. understandingnoun

    An informal contract, mutual agreement.

    I thought we had an understanding - you do the dishes, and I throw the trash.

  5. understandingnoun

    A reconciliation of differences.

    The parties of the negotiation have managed to come to an understanding.

  6. understandingnoun

    Sympathy.

    He showed much understanding when he found out of my troublesome familial history.

  7. understandingnoun

    All that people individually sense and feel of themselves.

  8. understandingadjective

    Showing compassion.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Understandingadjective

    Knowing; skilful.

    The present physician is a very understanding man, and well read. Joseph Addison, Remarks on Italy.

  2. Understandingnoun

    Etymology: from understand.

    I speak as my understanding instructs me, and as mine honesty puts it to utterance. William Shakespeare, Winter Tale.

    Make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord. Isaiah.

    It maketh day-light understanding, out of darkness. Francis Bacon.

    When she rates things, and moves from ground to ground,
    The name of reason she obtains by this:
    But when by reason she the truth hath found,
    And standeth fix’d, she understanding is. Davies.

    Life and sense,
    Fancy and understanding: whence the soul
    Reason receives, and reason is her being. John Milton.

    God is to the understanding of man, as the light of the sun is to our eyes, its first and most glorious object. John Tillotson.

    The understandings of a senate are often enslaved by three or four leaders. Jonathan Swift.

    Right understanding consists in the perception of the visible or probable agreement or disagreement of ideas. John Locke.

    Very mean people have raised their minds to a great sense and understanding of religion. John Locke.

    He hoped the loyalty of his subjects would concur with him in the preserving of a good understanding between him and his people. Edward Hyde.

    We have got into some understanding with the enemy, by means of Don Diego. Arbuthnot.

Wikipedia

  1. Understanding

    Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to use concepts to model that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object of understanding. Understanding implies abilities and dispositions with respect to an object of knowledge that are sufficient to support intelligent behavior.Understanding is often, though not always, related to learning concepts, and sometimes also the theory or theories associated with those concepts. However, a person may have a good ability to predict the behavior of an object, animal or system—and therefore may, in some sense, understand it—without necessarily being familiar with the concepts or theories associated with that object, animal, or system in their culture. They may have developed their own distinct concepts and theories, which may be equivalent, better or worse than the recognized standard concepts and theories of their culture. Thus, understanding is correlated with the ability to make inferences.

ChatGPT

  1. understanding

    Understanding is the ability to grasp or comprehend information, ideas, concepts, or situations. It involves perceiving the meaning or significance of something, making connections, interpreting and reasoning, and gaining insight into a given subject or context. Understanding implies a deep comprehension that goes beyond mere knowledge, allowing one to make sense of the world and apply their comprehension to solve problems, make decisions, or communicate effectively.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Understanding

    of Understand

  2. Understandingadjective

    knowing; intelligent; skillful; as, he is an understanding man

  3. Understandingnoun

    the act of one who understands a thing, in any sense of the verb; knowledge; discernment; comprehension; interpretation; explanation

  4. Understandingnoun

    an agreement of opinion or feeling; adjustment of differences; harmony; anything mutually understood or agreed upon; as, to come to an understanding with another

  5. Understandingnoun

    the power to understand; the intellectual faculty; the intelligence; the rational powers collectively conceived an designated; the higher capacities of the intellect; the power to distinguish truth from falsehood, and to adapt means to ends

  6. Understandingnoun

    specifically, the discursive faculty; the faculty of knowing by the medium or use of general conceptions or relations. In this sense it is contrasted with, and distinguished from, the reason

Wikidata

  1. Understanding

    Understanding is a psychological process related to an abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object. Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object of understanding. Understanding implies abilities and dispositions with respect to an object of knowledge sufficient to support intelligent behavior. An understanding is the limit of a conceptualization. To understand something is to have conceptualized it to a given measure.

Editors Contribution

  1. understanding

    The intuitive feeling, knowing, intelligence, act, fact and ability to understand.

    It was their understanding that both their families would be attending the full wedding and cousins attending the afters of the wedding.


    Submitted by MaryC on January 20, 2020  


  2. understanding

    Verb from of the word understand.

    The understanding of the team is accurate and clear so we always remain united through all moments of time.


    Submitted by MaryC on August 14, 2020  

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'understanding' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1354

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'understanding' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2137

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'understanding' in Nouns Frequency: #610

How to pronounce understanding?

How to say understanding in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of understanding in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of understanding in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of understanding in a Sentence

  1. Evgeny Andrachnikov:

    What is being signed today is not a contract, it is a memorandum of understanding.

  2. Jiddu Krishnamurti:

    What is needed, rather than running away or controlling or suppressing or any other resistance, is understanding fear; that means, watch it, learn about it, come directly into contact with it. We are to learn about fear, not how to escape from it.

  3. Johann von Goethe:

    The man of understanding finds everything laughable.

  4. Pope Julius III:

    Do you know, my son, with what little understanding the world is ruled?

  5. Jason Sudeikis:

    I'll have a better understanding of why in a year, and an even better one in two, and an even greater one in five, and it'll go from being, you know, a book of my life to becoming a chapter to a paragraph to a line to a word to a doodle.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

understanding#1#1670#10000

Translations for understanding

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"understanding." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/understanding>.

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1 Comment
  • Cleo Weaver
    Cleo Weaver
    DO YOU UNDERSTAND SPOKEN BY A SUPERVISOR
    LikeReply9 years ago

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