comprehend
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to perceive or understand
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(tr) to comprise or embrace; include
Usage
What are other ways to say comprehend? To comprehend something is to grasp it with the mind. How is comprehend different from know and understand? Learn more on Thesaurus.com.
Synonym Usage
See include.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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comprehendernoun
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precomprehendverb (used with object)
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noncomprehendingadjective
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self-comprehendingadjective
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uncomprehendedadjective
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uncomprehendingadjective
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well-comprehendedadjective
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comprehendinglyadverb
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noncomprehendinglyadverb
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uncomprehendinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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comprehendsimple
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comprehendssimple
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have comprehendedperfect
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has comprehendedperfect
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am comprehendingprogressive
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are comprehendingprogressive
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is comprehendingprogressive
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have been comprehendingperfect progressive
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has been comprehendingperfect progressive
Past
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comprehendedsimple
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had comprehendedperfect
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was comprehendingprogressive
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were comprehendingprogressive
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had been comprehendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of comprehend
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English comprehenden, from Latin comprehendere, from com- com- + prehendere “to seize” ( see prehension)
Explanation
To comprehend something is to understand it, like when you have to read a difficult passage more than once in order to comprehend it. When you comprehend something, you grasp its meaning. Comprehend is a verb that originates from the Latin word comprehendere, which means “catch or seize.” When an idea is clear to you and you understand it completely, you comprehend it, like doing extra problems to make sure you comprehend a difficult algebra rule, or finding it hard to comprehend why someone would paint his house neon yellow.
Vocabulary lists containing comprehend
Vocabulary of the Common Core
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List 4
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Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The children constantly ask for their father and struggle to comprehend why he isn't home for bedtime or take them out as he used to. He was a very loving, involved father."
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Zidan said he still struggled to comprehend what had happened in the village.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
We “can read the language of DNA,” he grants, but “we cannot yet speak it, nor fully comprehend it.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
We can comprehend 1 million, and even that 1 billion is one thousand millions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
It was the first time I had been in a school where I could not comprehend anything at all.
From "How Dare the Sun Rise" by Sandra Uwiringiyimana
College Football Brain is why we still have Zombie Bowl games layered on top of this 12-team playoff, as if anyone actually cares or comprehends why the quarterfinal needs to masquerade as the Cotton Bowl.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 1, 2025
Knox comprehends how knotty the process of reconciling with an ending that differs from what we want can be.
From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2025
They communicate verbally and also, often in games, only with a nod or a look that the other instantly comprehends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2024
“I don’t think she comprehends the breadth and depth of the suffering she has caused,” a tearful Ruetten said.
From Seattle Times ● May 21, 2024
He comprehends it, being a man full grown, able to oversee the kind of house Zeus would endow with honor.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Manjusri, with a calm smile, gently raises his hand to counter that the true nonmaterial essence of the Buddha can never be comprehended before transcending the material world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“I could have never comprehended such a perfect opportunity to align with my goals as an artist and future arts leader and an arts advocate.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2025
"I don't think 13-year-old me could have comprehended what I'm feeling now."
From BBC ● Nov. 9, 2023
Whether he survived Nandor's wrath became less important than whether Guillermo fully understood what he professed to desire most and whether Nandor comprehended how essential Guillermo is to his well-being.
From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2023
These, Bono illuminates for me in asides, and for the first time, I fully comprehended the magnitude of human story in our endeavor and the intricacies stashed like clockwork behind the regularity of our uniforms.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
And once comprehending, shall he go with the flow?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
Yet as commander in chief, wisely comprehending that no war to save the Union could be waged, much less won, exclusively by Republicans, Lincoln sought out Democrats to help battle secession.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
"They can't remember what things are called, can't finish a sentence, have trouble comprehending a text."
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026
The resulting data will certainly be of value for comprehending and conserving modern-day biodiversity.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2025
Jennifer stared at Deidre as if not quite comprehending what she was saying.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
