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.
adjective
characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude.
Origin of understanding
before 1050;Middle Englishunderstandynge,late Old Englishunderstandincge (noun). See understand, -ing1, -ing2
Related formsun·der·stand·ing·ly, adverbnon·un·der·stand·ing, adjective, nounnon·un·der·stand·ing·ly, adverbself-un·der·stand·ing, noun
