understand
know and comprehend the nature or meaning of
How often you will meet it
Rank 355 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 56,318 times across 155,370 chapters — 0.027% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 500 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
verb
- know and comprehend the nature or meaning of She did not understand her husbandI understand what she means
- perceive (an idea or situation) mentally also: realize, realise, see Now I see!I just can't see your point
- make sense of a language also: read, interpret, translate She understands FrenchCan you read Greek?
- believe to be the case also: infer I understand you have no previous experience?
- be understanding of also: sympathize, sympathise, empathize, empathise You don't need to explain--I understand!
understand in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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Love does not understand, or even recognize, gratitude.
Christian's Mistake · Dinah Maria Mulock Craik · Chapter 1
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I didn't understand him then, but I think I do now.
The Crown of Life · George Gissing · Chapter 1
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He couldn't understand the man's insistence on remaining where clearly he was an intruder.
The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1
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Nowadays young people understand quite well what it means to make one’s way easily and advantageously.
Cornelli · Johanna Spyri · Chapter 1
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She read the account over many times, with painstaking effort to understand that this meant Johnny McLean.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1