Meanings
present singular third person understands · participle present understanding · participle past understood · past understood · first person past singular understood · archaic first person past singular understanded · archaic present second person singular understandest · past second person singular understood · archaic past second person singular understanded · archaic past second person singular understoodest · present singular third person understands · archaic present singular third person understandeth · past singular third person understood · archaic past singular third person understanded · past plural understood · archaic past plural understanded
- intransitivetransitiveusuallystatements; signs; statements; signsTo know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.
Can you repeat what you just said? I didn't understand.
4 more examples
Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.
1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLCIn reading this book, be very certain you never go past a word you do not fully understand.
1950, L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics, New Era Publications, published 1999, →ISBN, →OCLC, page ixSwearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths.
2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the Profound Meets the Profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37With his legal maneuverings, Trump is showing that he also understands the implications of this election — one that could give him substantial powers as president to defray or dismiss many of the legal threats that he’s facing and to behave in office without future accountability.
2024 February 5, Stephen Collinson, “Trump’s legal battles are at a critical moment with major implications for the 2024 election”, in CNN- intransitivetransitiveusuallystatements; signs; generally; generallyTo know the meaning of.
1 more example
‘[…] I came back here, had a wank and finished that book.’ ‘The Naked Lunch?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘What did you reckon?’ ‘Crap.’ ‘You’re just saying that because you didn’t understand it,’ said Adrian. ‘I’m just saying that because I did understand it,’ said Tom. ‘Any road up, we’d better start making some toast.[…]’
1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 14
- transitiveusuallyTo 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?
2 more examples
There's been no formal declaration, but it's understood that a state of war exists between the two countries
“While we continue to believe the original complaint made to OCR was based on inaccurate information, OPS understands the importance for the district to remain in compliance with Title IX regulations in regard to policies, procedures, training, and documentation,” Coates’ statement said.
2024 November 14, Lauren del Valle, “After suicide of nonbinary teen, DOE finds multiple Title IX violations at Oklahoma school district”, in CNN - transitivegrammarTo regard as present when not.
In the imperative mood, the word “you” is usually understood.
1 more example
‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying.
1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC - humorousrareobsolete outside circusacrobaticsTo stand underneath, to support.
LAUNE: Ay, and what I do too: look thee, I'll but lean, and my staff understands me. SPEED: It stands under thee, indeed. LAUNCE:Why, stand-under and under-stand is all one.
c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene v]
alternative obsolete understaund · alternative pronunciation spelling unduhstand · alternative pronunciation spelling unnuhstand
- MalaysiaSingaporeUh-huh, I see; a way to acknowledge something said by the other speaker.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo believe or infer, to think one grasps sufficiently despite potentially incomplete knowledge.
to fully grasp a concept
More synonyms by meaning
verbperceive (an idea or situation) mentally
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*understandaną“to stand between, understand”
- Proto-West Germanic*understandan“to stand between, understand”
- Old Englishunderstandan“to understand”
- Middle Englishunderstanden
- Englishunderstand
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans verstaan
- verstaanto grasp the meaning of
Ancient Greek συνίημι, ἐπίσταμαι
- συνίημι (suníēmi)to grasp the meaning of
- ἐπίσταμαι (epístamai)to grasp the meaning of
- ἐννοέω (ennoéō)to grasp the meaning of
Arabic فَهِمَ
- فَهِمَ (fahima)to grasp the meaning of
Basque aditu, entelegatu
- adituto grasp the meaning of
- entelegatuto grasp the meaning of
- konprenituto grasp the meaning of
- ulertuto grasp the meaning of
Bengali বোঝা
- বোঝা (bōjha)to grasp the meaning of
Bulgarian разби́рам, разби́рам
- разби́рам (razbíram)to believe
- разби́рам (razbíram)to grasp the meaning of
- разбера́ (razberá)to grasp the meaning of
- разби́рам (razbíram)to believe one grasps the meaning of
- разбера́ (razberá)to believe one grasps the meaning of
Catalan entendre, comprendre
- entendreto grasp the meaning of
- comprendreto grasp the meaning of
Chinese Cantonese 明白
- 明白 (ming⁴ baak⁶)to grasp the meaning of
Chinese Mandarin 明白, 懂
- 明白 (míngbái)to grasp the meaning of
- 懂 (dǒng)to grasp the meaning of
- 了解 /暸解 (liǎojiě)to grasp the meaning of
- 理解 (lǐjiě)to grasp the meaning of
- 看得懂 (kàndedǒng)to grasp the meaning of
- 聽得懂 /听得懂 (tīngdedǒng)to grasp the meaning of
Czech rozumět, chápat
- rozumětto believe
- chápatto believe
- rozumětto grasp the meaning of
- porozumětto grasp the meaning of
- chápatto believe one grasps the meaning of
- pochopitto believe one grasps the meaning of
- rozumětto believe one grasps the meaning of
- porozumětto believe one grasps the meaning of
Danish forstå, opfatte
- forståto believe
- opfatteto believe
- indseto believe
- underforståto believe
- forståto grasp the meaning of
- fatteto grasp the meaning of
- begribeto grasp the meaning of
- forståto believe one grasps the meaning of
- meneto believe one grasps the meaning of
Dutch begrijpen, snappen
- begrijpento grasp the meaning of
- snappento grasp the meaning of
- gelovento believe one grasps the meaning of
Esperanto kompreni
- komprenito grasp the meaning of
Estonian mõistma, mõistma
- mõistmato believe
- mõistmato grasp the meaning of
- aru saamato believe one grasps the meaning of
Finnish ymmärtää, ymmärtää
- ymmärtääto believe
- ymmärtääto grasp the meaning of
- osatato grasp the meaning of
- tajutato grasp the meaning of
- käsittääto grasp the meaning of
- älytäto grasp the meaning of
- kässätäto grasp the meaning of
- snaijatato grasp the meaning of
- bonjatato grasp the meaning of
- hiffatato grasp the meaning of
- ymmärtääto believe one grasps the meaning of
- uskoato believe one grasps the meaning of
French comprendre
- comprendreto grasp the meaning of
German verstehen, verstehen
- verstehento believe
- verstehento grasp the meaning of
- begreifento grasp the meaning of
- den Eindruck habento believe one grasps the meaning of
- glaubento believe one grasps the meaning of
Greek καταλαβαίνω, κατανοώ
- καταλαβαίνω (katalavaíno)to grasp the meaning of
- κατανοώ (katanoó)to grasp the meaning of
- αντιλαμβάνομαι (antilamvánomai)to believe one grasps the meaning of
Hawaiian maopopo
- maopopoto grasp the meaning of
Hebrew הֵבִין, הֵבִין
- הֵבִין (hevín)to grasp the meaning of
- הֵבִין (hevín)to believe one grasps the meaning of
Hindi समझना
- समझना (samajhnā)to grasp the meaning of
Hungarian ért, ért
- értto believe
- értto grasp the meaning of
- megértto grasp the meaning of
- felfogto grasp the meaning of
- értesülto believe one grasps the meaning of
- tudto believe one grasps the meaning of
- hallto believe one grasps the meaning of
- hiszto believe one grasps the meaning of
- sejtto believe one grasps the meaning of
Icelandic skilja, skilja
- skiljato believe
- skiljato grasp the meaning of
- skiljastto believe one grasps the meaning of
Indonesian memahami, mengerti
- memahamito grasp the meaning of
- mengertito grasp the meaning of
Irish tuig
- tuigto grasp the meaning of
Italian ritenere, credere
- ritenereto believe
- credereto believe
- capireto grasp the meaning of
- comprendereto grasp the meaning of
- intendereto grasp the meaning of
- intendereto believe one grasps the meaning of
Japanese 分かる, 理解する
- 分かる (wakaru)to believe
- 理解する (rikai suru)to believe
- 分かる (wakaru)to grasp the meaning of
- 理解する (rikai suru)to grasp the meaning of
- 信じる (shinjiru)to believe one grasps the meaning of
Korean 알다, 이해하다
- 알다 (alda)to grasp the meaning of
- 이해하다 (ihaehada)to grasp the meaning of
- 리해하다 (rihaehada)to grasp the meaning of
Latin capio, intellegō
- capioto believe
- intellegōto grasp the meaning of
- comprehendōto grasp the meaning of
- percipioto grasp the meaning of
- scioto grasp the meaning of
- conspicioto grasp the meaning of
- teneoto grasp the meaning of
- capioto grasp the meaning of
- exaudioto grasp the meaning of
- videoto grasp the meaning of
- interpretorto grasp the meaning of
- subaudioto grasp the meaning of
Latvian saprast
- saprastto grasp the meaning of
Lithuanian suprasti
- suprastito grasp the meaning of
Malay memahami
- memahamito grasp the meaning of
Māori mātau, aro
- mātauto grasp the meaning of
- aroto grasp the meaning of
- orotauto grasp the meaning of
- awekoto grasp the meaning of
Norwegian Bokmål forstå, fatte
- forståto believe
- fatteto believe
- forståto grasp the meaning of
- skjønneto grasp the meaning of
- kunneto grasp the meaning of
- forståto believe one grasps the meaning of
- skjønneto believe one grasps the meaning of
Polish pojmować, rozumieć
- pojmowaćto believe
- rozumiećto believe
- rozumiećto grasp the meaning of
- zrozumiećto grasp the meaning of
- pojmowaćto grasp the meaning of
- pojąćto grasp the meaning of
- być świadomym znaczeniato grasp the meaning of
- rozumiećto believe one grasps the meaning of
- zrozumiećto believe one grasps the meaning of
Portuguese compreender, compreender
- compreenderto believe
- compreenderto grasp the meaning of
- entenderto grasp the meaning of
- perceberto grasp the meaning of
- acreditarto believe one grasps the meaning of
Romanian înțelege, pricepe
- înțelegeto grasp the meaning of
- pricepeto grasp the meaning of
Russian понима́ть, поня́ть
- понима́ть (ponimátʹ)to believe
- поня́ть (ponjátʹ)to believe
- подразумева́ть (podrazumevátʹ)to regard as present when not
- понима́ть (ponimátʹ)to grasp the meaning of
- поня́ть (ponjátʹ)to grasp the meaning of
- разуме́ть (razumétʹ)to grasp the meaning of
- понима́ть (ponimátʹ)to believe one grasps the meaning of
- поня́ть (ponjátʹ)to believe one grasps the meaning of
Scottish Gaelic tuig
- tuigto grasp the meaning of
Slovak veriť, rozumieť
- veriťto believe
- rozumieťto grasp the meaning of
- porozumieťto grasp the meaning of
Spanish sobreentenderse, subentenderse
- sobreentenderseto regard as present when not
- subentenderseto regard as present when not
- entenderto grasp the meaning of
- diquelarto grasp the meaning of
- dar en elloto grasp the meaning of
- entrevarto grasp the meaning of
- manyarto grasp the meaning of
- entenderto believe one grasps the meaning of
Swahili elewa, elewa
- elewato believe
- elewato grasp the meaning of
- elewato believe one grasps the meaning of
Swedish förstå, förstå
- förståto believe
- förståto grasp the meaning of
- förståto believe one grasps the meaning of
Tagalog maintindihan, alamin
- maintindihanto grasp the meaning of
- alaminto grasp the meaning of
- batirinto grasp the meaning of
Tamil புரி, விளங்கு
- புரி (puri)to grasp the meaning of
- விளங்கு (viḷaṅku)to grasp the meaning of
- கிரகி (kiraki)to grasp the meaning of
- தெரி (teri)to believe one grasps the meaning of
Thai เข้าใจ, รู้เรื่อง
- เข้าใจ (kâo-jai)to grasp the meaning of
- รู้เรื่อง (rúu-rʉ̂ʉang)to grasp the meaning of
- ทราบ (sâap)to grasp the meaning of
Turkish anlamak
- anlamakto grasp the meaning of
Ukrainian розумі́ти, зрозумі́ти
- розумі́ти (rozumíty)to grasp the meaning of
- зрозумі́ти (zrozumíty)to grasp the meaning of
- розумі́ти (rozumíty)to believe one grasps the meaning of
- зрозумі́ти (zrozumíty)to believe one grasps the meaning of
Urdu سَمَجْھنا
- سَمَجْھنا (samajhnā)to grasp the meaning of
Vietnamese hiểu
- hiểuto grasp the meaning of
Welsh deall
- deallto grasp the meaning of
Yiddish פֿאַרשטיין
- פֿאַרשטיין (farshteyn)to grasp the meaning of
Zulu -qonda, -bona
- -qondato grasp the meaning of
- -bonato grasp the meaning of
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with understand
Anagrams
Cite this entry
understand. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/understand
“understand.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/understand. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “understand,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/understand.
Source: understand on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.