comprehension

American  

[kom-pri-hen-shuhn] / ˌkɒm prɪˈhɛn ʃən /

noun

• comprehensions
  plural

1. the act or process of comprehending.

2. the state of being comprehended.

3. perception or understanding.

   His comprehension of physics is amazing for a young student.

4. capacity of the mind to perceive and understand; power to grasp ideas; ability to know.

5. Logic. the connotation of a term.

6. inclusion.

7. comprehensiveness.

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comprehension British  

/ ˌkɒmprɪˈhɛnʃən /

noun

1. the act or capacity of understanding

2. the state of including or comprising something; comprehensiveness

3. education an exercise consisting of a previously unseen passage of text with related questions, designed to test a student's understanding esp of a foreign language

4. obsolete logic the attributes implied by a given concept or term; connotation

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• miscomprehension
  noun
• noncomprehension
  noun
• precomprehension
  noun
• supercomprehension
  noun
• uncomprehension
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• comprehensions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of comprehension

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin comprehēnsiōn-, stem of comprehēnsiō, from comprehēns(us) “understood” (past participle of comprehendere “to understand,” literally, “to seize together”; see comprehend) + -iō -ion

Explanation

The word comprehension means understanding. When you lack comprehension of a difficult word, you will likely need to look up its definition and usage in a cool, down-to-earth online dictionary! Comprehension actually comes from the Latin term, comprehensionem, which means "a seizing." When you have comprehension of a subject, you have seized information and incorporated it into your own knowledge. Any kind of mental grasping of an idea or a subject is a kind of comprehension. You might attempt comprehension of a curious situation, like the fact that your goofy roommate always manages to date models. Sometimes, such mysteries are beyond comprehension!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

comprehension comprehensions

AI’s progress in math is now giving us a peek at a world beyond our comprehension.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

Intertitle cards bridged some comprehension gaps, but skilled directors used them sparingly.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

Sentencing him at Hull Crown Court, Judge Justice Hilliard told the former undertaker he had "caused anguish and pain on a scale beyond comprehension".

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

The findings suggest that important cognitive abilities, including language comprehension and prediction, may not depend on conscious awareness.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 29, 2026

But it was just the two of us, me smiling brazenly while inside I quaked in terror, and him, flustered beyond comprehension.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

He may also be rushing through the text and not monitoring his own comprehensions.

From Slate ● Jan. 7, 2021

Reed and Wooten will be tasked with improving hitters’ comprehensions of technology-driven approaches and overseeing new catcher Jonathan Lucroy’s resurgence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2019

I had glimpses and intimations of the baffling essence of our human lives here, strange, fleeting comprehensions of the eternal wonder and the eternal beauty….

From Sacred and Profane Love by Arnold Bennett

Who knows what sympathies, what comprehensions, what exquisite friendships, were blossoming out there in the dark house like a garden, waiting to be gathered?

From Memoirs of an American Prima Donna by Clara Louise Kellogg

When they had time to explore each other's minds, they came upon curious discoveries of hidden sympathies and mutual comprehensions which were rich treasures.

From The Head of the House of Coombe by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Related Words

• apprehension
• awareness