understanding
mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.
intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind: a quick understanding.
superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence: With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.
knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something: an understanding of accounting practice.
a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people: To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.
a mutual agreement, especially of a private, unannounced, or tacit kind: They had an understanding about who would do the dishes.
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.
Philosophy.
the power of abstract thought; logical power.
Kantianism. the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.
characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude.
Origin of understanding
1Other words from understanding
- un·der·stand·ing·ly, adverb
- non·un·der·stand·ing, adjective, noun
- non·un·der·stand·ing·ly, adverb
- self-un·der·stand·ing, noun
Words Nearby understanding
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use understanding in a sentence
Nothing made Groucho funnier than having this Margaret Dumont around not understanding the jokes.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire | William O’Connor | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTunderstanding my own dreams had a lot to do with getting me off the juice.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTAs she discussed her understanding of the voting rights campaign and how she planned to recreate it, I grew more relieved.
Dr. King Goes to Hollywood: The Flawed History of ‘Selma’ | Gary May | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTMy understanding was that according to most Christian beliefs, being trans or gay was a sin, cut and dry.
Dear Leelah, We Will Fight On For You: A Letter to a Dead Trans Teen | Parker Molloy | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTNow half-awake, we need all the help we can get in understanding our situation.
American Democracy Under Threat for 250 Years | Jedediah Purdy | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
I would ask you to imagine it translated into every language, a common material of understanding throughout all the world.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsOur social life is aimless without it, we are a crowd without a common understanding.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) WellsThe hopes of a man that is void of understanding are vain and deceitful: and dreams lift up fools.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousThe friars were exceedingly wroth, and combined to defeat the Generalʼs efforts to come to an understanding with the rebels.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanThe two enjoyed a mutual understanding from which he was excluded, a private intimacy that was spiritual, mental,— physical.
The Wave | Algernon Blackwood
British Dictionary definitions for understanding
/ (ˌʌndəˈstændɪŋ) /
the ability to learn, judge, make decisions, etc; intelligence or sense
personal opinion or interpretation of a subject: my understanding of your predicament
a mutual agreement or compact, esp an informal or private one
mainly British an unofficial engagement to be married
philosophy archaic the mind, esp the faculty of reason
on the understanding that with the condition that; providing
sympathetic, tolerant, or wise towards people
possessing judgment and intelligence
Derived forms of understanding
- understandingly, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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