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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

understanding.

The act of one that understands or comprehends; the mental process of discernment of meaning.

13 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ʌndəˈstandɪŋ/Received-Pronunciation/ˌʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/General-American

  1. The act of one that understands or comprehends; the mental process of discernment of meaning.

    uncountable · with-of
    There are certain things that defy human understanding.

  2. Reason or intelligence; ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge; ability to infer.

    countable · with-of
    She has a solid understanding of particle physics.

  3. Opinion, judgement, or outlook.

    countable · with-of
    According to my understanding, the situation is quite perilous. I wonder if you see it this way, too.

  4. An agreement of minds; harmony; something mutually understood or agreed upon. An informal contract; a mutual agreement.

    countable · uncountable · with-of
    I thought we had an understanding - you do the dishes, and I throw the trash.

  5. An agreement of minds; harmony; something mutually understood or agreed upon. A reconciliation of differences.

    countable · uncountable · with-of
    The parties of the negotiation have managed to come to an understanding.

  6. Sympathy.

    uncountable · with-of
    He showed much understanding for my problems when he heard about my past.
Where this word comes from

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). Cognate with Middle Dutch onderstaninge, Middle Low German understandinge, Middle High German understandunge.

adj/ʌndəˈstandɪŋ/Received-Pronunciation/ˌʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/General-American

  1. Showing compassion, tolerance, and forbearance; sympathetically aware.

  2. Knowing; skilful.

    dated
Where this word comes from

From Middle English understandyng, understondynge, understondinde, undirstondend, understandande, from Old English understandende, from Proto-West Germanic *undarstandandī, from Proto-Germanic *understandandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *understandaną (“to stand between, intercede, understand”), equivalent to understand + -ing (present participle ending).

verb/ʌndəˈstandɪŋ/Received-Pronunciation/ˌʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/General-American

  1. present participle and gerund of understand

    form-of · gerund · participle · present
Where this word comes from

From Middle English understandyng, understondynge, understondinde, undirstondend, understandande, from Old English understandende, from Proto-West Germanic *undarstandandī, from Proto-Germanic *understandandz, present participle of Proto-Germanic *understandaną (“to stand between, intercede, understand”), equivalent to understand + -ing (present participle ending).

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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.