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

Princeton's WordNet(2.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

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(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

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.

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

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

Freebase(4.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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

1. • Inclination
   • Statement

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?

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 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. Josh Frydenberg:

   The inaugural members have an in-depth understanding of Australia’s regulatory framework and first-hand experience working with ASIC and APRA over many years ... which will assist in their assessment of the operational performance of both ASIC and APRA.

2. William James:

   To study the abnormal is the best way of understanding the normal.

3. James Galvin:

   In the 1980s, as the molecular understanding of Alzheimer's improved, it became clear that a bunch of these people didn't seem to fit that( diagnosis).

4. Harry Dunn:

   And I was later diagnosed with a concussion, a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, it's an important part of the record for this committee's investigation and for the country's understanding of how I was assaulted and nearly killed as the mob attacked the Capitol that day.

5. Jim Dean:

   Clinton's economic policy speech reflects a very clear understanding that the Democratic Party and the vast majority of the American people want a president who will fight alongside … Elizabeth Warren and refuse to kowtow to wealthy and powerful interests on Wall Street.

Popularity rank by frequency of use