Definitions for understand
ˌʌn dərˈstændun·der·stand

Princeton's WordNet(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. understandverb

   know and comprehend the nature or meaning of

   "She did not understand her husband"; "I understand what she means"

2. understand, realize, realise, seeverb

   perceive (an idea or situation) mentally

   "Now I see!"; "I just can't see your point"; "Does she realize how important this decision is?"; "I don't understand the idea"

3. understand, read, interpret, translateverb

   make sense of a language

   "She understands French"; "Can you read Greek?"

4. understand, inferverb

   believe to be the case

   "I understand you have no previous experience?"

5. sympathize, sympathise, empathize, empathise, understandverb

   be understanding of

   "You don't need to explain--I understand!"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. understandverb

   To be aware of the meaning of.

   Etymology: From understanden, from understandan, from under + standanan, equivalent to under- + standan. Cognate with understunda, understantan, Middle understande. Compare also onderstaan, unterstehen. More at inter-, stand.

2. understandverb

   To believe, based on information.

   I understand that you have information for me.

   Etymology: From understanden, from understandan, from under + standanan, equivalent to under- + standan. Cognate with understunda, understantan, Middle understande. Compare also onderstaan, unterstehen. More at inter-, stand.

3. understandverb

   To impute meaning, character etc. that is not explicitly stated.

   Etymology: From understanden, from understandan, from under + standanan, equivalent to under- + standan. Cognate with understunda, understantan, Middle understande. Compare also onderstaan, unterstehen. More at inter-, stand.

4. understandverb

   To apply values (axioms).

   Etymology: From understanden, from understandan, from under + standanan, equivalent to under- + standan. Cognate with understunda, understantan, Middle understande. Compare also onderstaan, unterstehen. More at inter-, stand.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Understandverb

   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

2. Understandverb

   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. Understandverb

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

4. Understandverb

   to mean without expressing; to imply tacitly; to take for granted; to assume

5. Understandverb

   to stand under; to support

6. Understandverb

   to have the use of the intellectual faculties; to be an intelligent being

7. Understandverb

   to be informed; to have or receive knowledge

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Understand

   un-dėr-stand′, v.t. to comprehend: to have just ideas of: to know thoroughly: to be informed of: to learn: to suppose to mean: to mean without expressing: to imply.—v.i. to have the use of the intellectual faculties: to be informed: to learn.—adj. Understan′dable.—p.adj. Understan′ded (obs.), understood (with of).—n. Understan′ding, the act of comprehending: the faculty or the act of the mind by which it understands or thinks: the power to understand: knowledge: exact comprehension: agreement of minds: harmony.—adj. knowing, skilful.—adv. Understan′dingly.—Understands′, in Scotch Version of Psalms, used for Understandest. [A.S. understandan, to stand under or in the midst of a thing.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. understand

   To feel and know intuitively.

   They did understand the nature of their love, unity and engagement and knew their marriage was for life.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 15, 2020  

2. understand

   To perceive intuitively through the brain, conscience, consciousness, heart, mind, spirit, soul and subconscious.

   We do understand each other and trust the unity of our soul and love.

   Submitted by MaryC on February 15, 2020  

Matched Categories

1. • Believe

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'understand' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #676

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'understand' in Written Corpus Frequency: #456

3. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'understand' in Verbs Frequency: #91

How to pronounce understand?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say understand in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of understand in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of understand in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of understand in a Sentence

1. Kevin Sneader:

   To be brutally honest – we were too distant to understand the growing anger in South Africa.

2. Helen Rowland:

   No man can understand why a woman shouldn't prefer a good reputation to a good time.

3. Jorge Kalil:

   People have to understand this is an emergency, if we have an idea and a product that causes no harm, we have the obligation to test it.

4. Beth Garvey:

   There is a clear difference between actionable retaliation and protected speech and it is clear that the Chairman doesn’t understand the difference.

5. Brian Sicknick:

   They went through their motions, but you can tell that underneath they were being nice to us, i don't understand it. They are elected for us, the people, and they don't care about that.

Popularity rank by frequency of use