comprehension

American  

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

noun

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

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

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

Although Centaur was presented as a model capable of simulating cognition, its biggest limitation appears to be in language comprehension.

From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2026

This creates a gap between adviser compliance and a client’s comprehension of all the moving parts.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 24, 2026

But the hurtling pace of the cast, combined with some misguided blocking that has characters speaking at points with their backs to the audience, makes comprehension more difficult than necessary.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 26, 2026

This extremely human rendering of the healer’s challenge conveys a broader scope of comprehension than any other medical drama.

From Salon • Jan. 8, 2026

The young soldier looked at him quizzically, until, with sudden comprehension, he laughed.

From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi

Related Words

• apprehension
• awareness