understand.
To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.
Meaning & usage
To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.
Can you repeat what you just said? I didn't understand.
To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend. To know the meaning of.
To be thoroughly familiar with; to be able to undertake properly.
The students understood the assignment.
To comprehend a fact or principle; to regard or come to regard a belief as such.
I understand that company policy says I can't get a refund, but can you make an exception?
There's been no formal declaration, but it's understood that a state of war exists between the two countries
To know the intent, motives or character of; (of events) to know the causes of or reasons for.
One day you say you love me, the next you ignore me—I don't understand you!
To believe or infer, to think one grasps sufficiently despite potentially incomplete knowledge.
I've been given to understand that you have a package for me?
At least four people are understood to have been injured.
To regard as present when not.
In the imperative mood, the word “you” is usually understood.
To stand underneath, to support.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English understanden, from Old English understandan (“to understand”), from Proto-West Germanic *understandan (“to stand between, understand”), from Proto-Germanic *understandaną (“to stand between, understand”), equivalent to Old English under- (“between, inter-”) + standan (“to stand”) (Modern English under- + stand). Cognate with Old Frisian understonda (“to understand, experience, learn”), Old High German understantan (“to understand”), Middle Danish understande (“to understand”). Compare also Saterland Frisian understunda, unnerstounde (“to dare, survey, measure”), Dutch onderstaan (“to undertake, presume”), German unterstehen (“to be subordinate”).
Uh-huh, I see; a way to acknowledge something said by the other speaker.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English understanden, from Old English understandan (“to understand”), from Proto-West Germanic *understandan (“to stand between, understand”), from Proto-Germanic *understandaną (“to stand between, understand”), equivalent to Old English under- (“between, inter-”) + standan (“to stand”) (Modern English under- + stand). Cognate with Old Frisian understonda (“to understand, experience, learn”), Old High German understantan (“to understand”), Middle Danish understande (“to understand”). Compare also Saterland Frisian understunda, unnerstounde (“to dare, survey, measure”), Dutch onderstaan (“to undertake, presume”), German unterstehen (“to be subordinate”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.