understanding

Syllables: un·der·stand·ingUK/ʌndəˈstandɪŋ//ˌʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/

understanding noun: the act of one that understands or comprehends; the mental process of discernment of meaning. Also the present participle and gerund of understand.

Noun

understanding (countable and uncountable, plural understandings)

(uncountable, with-of) The act of one that understands or comprehends; the mental process of discernment of meaning.
- There are certain things that defy human understanding.
- The Ways of Heav’n are dark and intricate,
  Puzzled in Mazes, and perplext with Errors;
  Our Underſtanding traces ’em in vain,
  Loſt and bewilder’d in the fruitleſs Search; […]1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2
Synonyms:

comprehension
(countable, with-of) Reason or intelligence; ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge; ability to infer.
- She has a solid understanding of particle physics.
Synonyms:

comprehension, grasp
(countable, with-of) Opinion, judgement, or outlook.
- It is the goneness of the Holocaust that produces the simultaneous profusion of discourses and understandings; the goneness is what opens up, what spurs, what unleashes the perpetual desire to do, to make, to rethink the Holocaust.1999, Vivian Patraka, Spectacular Suffering: Theatre, Fascism, and the Holocaust
- There is a multitude of theisms, many understandings of God, even within the same religious tradition.2002, Ross Mackenzie, Marcus J. Borg, editors, God at 2000, page 48
(with-of) An informal contract; a mutual agreement.
- I thought we had an understanding - you do the dishes, and I throw the trash.
(with-of) A reconciliation of differences.
- The parties of the negotiation have managed to come to an understanding.
(uncountable, with-of) Sympathy.
- He showed much understanding for my problems when he heard about my past.

Adjective

understanding (comparative more understanding, superlative most understanding)

Showing compassion, tolerance, and forbearance; sympathetically aware.
(dated) Knowing; skilful.

Also used as

understanding is also the present participle and gerund of understand.

understanding meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

understanding in Hindi

(''uncountable'') the mental process of discernment of meaning: समझ samajh, फ़हम faham, फहम phaham
ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge, ability to infer: समझ samajh
opinion, judgement or outlook: नज़र nazar

understanding in Tamil

(''uncountable'') the mental process of discernment of meaning: புரிதல் purital
ability to grasp the full meaning of knowledge, ability to infer: புரிதல் purital
opinion, judgement or outlook: புரிதல் purital
informal contract, mutual agreement: புரிதல் purital

understanding in Urdu

(''uncountable'') the mental process of discernment of meaning: سَمَجھ samajh, فَہْم fahm

More languagesFewer languages

understanding in Telugu: అవగాహన
understanding in Malayalam: മനസ്സിലാക്കൽ
understanding in Kannada: ತಿಳುವಳಿಕೆ, ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು, ಅರ್ಥ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು
understanding in Punjabi: ਸਮਝ
understanding in Gujarati: સમજદાર samajdār
understanding in Tagalog: pag-unawa
understanding in Arabic: فَهْم fahm, رُؤْيَة ruʔya, تَفَاهُم tafāhum, فهم
understanding in Indonesian: pengertian
understanding in Thai: ความเข้าใจ kwaam-kâo-jai
understanding in Vietnamese: sự hiểu

Examples of understanding in a sentence

According to my understanding, the situation is quite perilous. I wonder if you see it this way, too.
The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy.2013 August 3, “The machine of a new soul”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847:

All 40 example sentences with understanding

Synonyms of understanding

Forms of understanding

Noun
plural	understandings
Adjective
comparative	more understanding
superlative	most understanding

Plural of understanding: understandings

Origin of understanding

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.

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).

Words formed from understanding

Phrases with understanding

Words that rhyme with understanding

Questions about understanding

What does understanding mean?: Understanding means the act of one that understands or comprehends; the mental process of discernment of meaning.
What is understanding in Hindi?: Understanding in Hindi is समझ (samajh), फ़हम (faham), फहम (phaham). See Understanding meaning in Hindi.
How do you use understanding in a sentence?: According to my understanding, the situation is quite perilous. I wonder if you see it this way, too.
What part of speech is understanding?: Understanding can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce understanding?: Understanding is pronounced /ʌndəˈstandɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of understanding?: The plural of understanding is understandings.

Words near understanding in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: understanding (page history and authors); understanding (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); understanding (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); understanding (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); understanding (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); understanding (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-understanding.ogg.

Cite this entry: “understanding.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/understanding. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.