understanding
//ʌndəˈstandɪŋ//
formalForms
- Plural
- understandings
- Comparative
- more understanding
- Superlative
- most understanding
Definitions
1.The act of one that understands or comprehends; the mental process of discernment of meaning.
- There are certain things that defy human understanding.
2.Reason or intelligence; ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge; ability to infer.
- She has a solid understanding of particle physics.
3.Opinion, judgement, or outlook.
- According to my understanding, the situation is quite perilous. I wonder if you see it this way, too.
- There is a multitude of theisms, many understandings of God, even within the same religious tradition.
4.An agreement of minds; harmony; something mutually understood or agreed upon.
- The parties of the negotiation have managed to come to an understanding.
- I thought we had an understanding - you do the dishes, and I throw the trash.
1.Showing compassion, tolerance, and forbearance; sympathetically aware.
1.present participle and gerund of understand
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1315
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Common
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
Etymology
From Middle English understandinge, understondinge, from Old English understanding (“intelligence, understanding”), from Proto-West Germanic *undarstandingu, from Proto-Germanic *understandingō, equivalent to understand + -ing (gerund ending).