understanding

American  

[uhn-der-stan-ding] / ˌʌn dərˈstæn dɪŋ /

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.

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adjective

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

   an understanding attitude.

understanding British  

/ 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

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adjective

1. sympathetic, tolerant, or wise towards people

2. possessing judgment and intelligence

Other Word Forms

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

Etymology

Origin of understanding

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

Example Sentences

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said Turner would bring "exceptional diplomatic experience and deep understanding" to the role.

From BBC

This lack of understanding has slowed progress, especially since T cell therapies work well for only a small number of cancer types and fail in most others, for reasons that have remained unclear.

From Science Daily

Joe and I operate under the shared understanding that audiences react more viscerally to a film that’s been shot authentically, and they can feel it in their bones if it’s not.

From Los Angeles Times

I have to fight back a few tears suddenly understanding all the things his theater has given me, things I will hold onto as long as I’m on this Earth.

From Salon

The regulator said that this, in part, reflected the lower levels of understanding among consumers of what their insurance policy covered.

From BBC

Related Words

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