understanding

[uhn-der-stan-ding]

noun

1. mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation.

   My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.

2. intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind.

   a quick understanding.

3. superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence.

   With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.

4. knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something.

   an understanding of accounting practice.

5. a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people.

   To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.

6. a mutual agreement, especially of a private, unannounced, or tacit kind.

   They had an understanding about who would do the dishes.

7. 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.

8. Philosophy.

   1. the power of abstract thought; logical power.

   2. Kantianism.,  the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.

adjective

1. characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like.

   an understanding attitude.

understanding

/ ˌʌndəˈstændɪŋ /

noun

1. the ability to learn, judge, make decisions, etc; intelligence or sense

2. personal opinion or interpretation of a subject

   my understanding of your predicament

3. a mutual agreement or compact, esp an informal or private one

4. an unofficial engagement to be married

5. archaic,  philosophy the mind, esp the faculty of reason

6. with the condition that; providing

adjective

1. sympathetic, tolerant, or wise towards people

2. possessing judgment and intelligence

Other Word Forms

• understandingly adverb
• nonunderstanding adjective
• nonunderstandingly adverb
• self-understanding noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of understanding¹

First recorded before 1050; understand + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

This much is clear: The president has no respect for the American anti-monarchical tradition and style, and he seems to lack any real understanding that it’s our fundamental reason for being.

From Salon

“Mare of Easttown” captured that sense of mutual understanding in such a novel way, the star observed, “that I thought it kind of caught like wildfire. The best parts of that are alive in ‘Task.’

From Salon

"Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," says Olle Kämpe, chair of the Nobel Committee.

From BBC

He struggles with meeting people his own age, understanding his emotions and anxiety.

From BBC

During summer school, Ruiz said, she was called into a classroom where kindergartners were repeating their parents’ worries — often, what parents heard on the news — but not understanding the gravity of the situation.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• conclusion 
• idea 
• impression 
• interpretation 
• judgment 
• knowledge 
• meaning 
• opinion 
• perception 
• sense 
• sympathy 
• view