the cognitive condition of someone who understands
<noun.cognition> he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect
the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises
<noun.communication> they had an agreement that they would not interfere in each other's business there was an understanding between management and the workers
an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion
<noun.cognition> his sympathies were always with the underdog I knew I could count on his understanding
the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination
<noun.cognition> we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil [ adj ]
characterized by understanding based on comprehension and discernment and empathy
<adj.all> an understanding friend
Understand \Un`der*stand"\ ([u^]n`d[~e]r*st[a^]nd"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Understood} (([u^]n`d[~e]r*st[oo^]d"),), and Archaic {Understanded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Understanding}.] [OE. understanden, AS. understandan, literally, to stand under; cf. AS. forstandan to understand, G. verstehen. The development of sense is not clear. See {Under}, and {Stand}.] 1. To have just and adequate ideas of; to apprehended the meaning or intention of; to have knowledge of; to comprehend; to know; as, to understand a problem in Euclid; to understand a proposition or a declaration; the court understands the advocate or his argument; to understand the sacred oracles; to understand a nod or a wink.
Speaketh [i. e., speak thou] so plain at this time, I you pray, That we may understande what ye say. --Chaucer.
I understand not what you mean by this. --Shak.
Understood not all was but a show. --Milton.
A tongue not understanded of the people. --Bk. of Com. Prayer.
2. To be apprised, or have information, of; to learn; to be informed of; to hear; as, I understand that Congress has passed the bill.
3. To recognize or hold as being or signifying; to suppose to mean; to interpret; to explain.
The most learned interpreters understood the words of sin, and not of Abel. --Locke.
4. To mean without expressing; to imply tacitly; to take for granted; to assume.
War, then, war, Open or understood, must be resolved. --Milton.
5. To stand under; to support. [Jocose & R.] --Shak.
{To give one to understand}, to cause one to know.
{To make one's self understood}, to make one's meaning clear.
Understanding \Un`der*stand"ing\ ([u^]n`d[~e]r*st[a^]nd"[i^]ng), a. Knowing; intelligent; skillful; as, he is an understanding man.
Understanding \Un`der*stand"ing\, n. 1. The act of one who understands a thing, in any sense of the verb; knowledge; discernment; comprehension; interpretation; explanation.
2. An agreement of opinion or feeling; adjustment of differences; harmony; anything mutually understood or agreed upon; as, to come to an understanding with another.
He hoped the loyalty of his subjects would concur with him in the preserving of a good understanding between him and his people. --Clarendon.
3. The power to understand; the intellectual faculty; the intelligence; the rational powers collectively conceived an designated; the higher capacities of the intellect; the power to distinguish truth from falsehood, and to adapt means to ends.
But there is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. --Job xxxii. 8.
The power of perception is that which we call the understanding. Perception, which we make the act of the understanding, is of three sorts: 1. The perception of ideas in our mind; 2. The perception of the signification of signs; 3. The perception of the connection or repugnancy, agreement or disagreement, that there is between any of our ideas. All these are attributed to the understanding, or perceptive power, though it be the two latter only that use allows us to say we understand. --Locke.
In its wider acceptation, understanding is the entire power of perceiving an conceiving, exclusive of the sensibility: the power of dealing with the impressions of sense, and composing them into wholes, according to a law of unity; and in its most comprehensive meaning it includes even simple apprehension. --Coleridge.
4. Specifically, the discursive faculty; the faculty of knowing by the medium or use of general conceptions or relations. In this sense it is contrasted with, and distinguished from, the reason.
I use the term understanding, not for the noetic faculty, intellect proper, or place of principles, but for the dianoetic or discursive faculty in its widest signification, for the faculty of relations or comparisons; and thus in the meaning in which ``verstand'' is now employed by the Germans. --Sir W. Hamilton.
Syn: Sense; intelligence; perception. See {Sense}.
But on Sunday, apparently understanding that most Soviets don't believe the hard-line version, television ran a softer film that purported to show both sides of the story.
"So there was a clarity of understanding from the outset and I think that he recognizes in her a determined, successful political leader.
But he has won the most praise for his student loan default regulations, which educators say have shown the right combination of toughness and understanding of the soaring, multibillion-dollar default problem.
His case can be made stronger by reference to the Framers' understanding of the nature of the veto, as indicated by the examples that constituted their experience in the matter.
The oil patch was no more understanding.
Bond dealers in London admit that hardly any foreign market operators have a detailed understanding of the nature of the constitutional reforms.
There is probably nothing more important to man's future on this planet than an understanding of the long-range effects of his activities.
Children reading and understanding "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Iron and Silk" in the ninth grade are the answer to poor SAT scores.
Carlucci said the "memorandum of understanding" that would govern the program would be signed with the Japanese government.
What's hard is understanding why anyone would want this Eighth Wonder, especially considering that it will come back year after year.
Indeed, understanding the powerful Nokyo, with its influence over the government, consumer groups and other opinion makers, goes a long way toward understanding Japanese trade intransigence and the strong sentiment for agricultural protectionism.
Indeed, understanding the powerful Nokyo, with its influence over the government, consumer groups and other opinion makers, goes a long way toward understanding Japanese trade intransigence and the strong sentiment for agricultural protectionism.
In the early months, he says, local inspectors often displayed 'a different understanding of the regulations from the central inspectorate'.
"It's my understanding that (Layton's) wife came to the door and let the officers in," state police Lt.
Purchase prices range from Pounds 795 to Pounds 3,900 for 'Account Ability' which introduces the Price Waterhouse seven-step approach to understanding and interpreting financial statements.
The Russians are searching for an understanding with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; many of Delhi's leading economic advisers have served time in either the Bank or the Fund.
He won't have very much recuperation time when the Titans tour ends: After a week or two at home in Arizona, Mele goes back on tour until December ("my wife is very understanding, God bless her").
It must have been clear long before the latest episode, though, that Mr Ozal was no longer prepared to back him as he had in the past. Mr Ozal's role in the Nadir saga is central to understanding the way Turkish business works.
"Our main problem is that the world media is understanding the outcome of the PNC as recognition of Israel," says Alon Liel, spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Texas did, and HHS approved it, "in the interest of understanding the effects of increased transitional benefits," Fishman said.
In it, workers broke into groups to discuss issues like the difference between "knowledge" and "understanding."
Our third area of discussion was bilateral contacts between our peoples, an expanding program of student exchanges, of the opening of cultural centers, progress toward a broader understanding of each other.
He is aware of the importance of understanding different cultural backgrounds to making a success of a leisure venue.
To view published earnings as only a baby step toward understanding a company's true "normal earning power," which may be considerably more or less.
Followers of Christian Science refuse medicine or other health care on the belief that true understanding of God acts as a cure.
"I regret that my concern for the poor and the environment was so dishonestly misinterpreted and misused to perpetrate a cruel hoax on 4 million Americans who are already broken beyond any measure of understanding," Sheen said in a statement.
Mr Malcolm Rifkind, the defence secretary, has put on record his understanding that, if economies greater than those asked for are found, the cash released may be diverted to the front line forces.
"Most of the time there is no trust or understanding.
For an individual 10 or more years out of college, an understanding of much of today's science is the result of that individual's recognition of the importance of the subject and his desire to continue learning.
Ronald Reagan, criticized during his administration for his response to the AIDS epidemic, says he's become more understanding about the disease.