understand

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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

understand

/ˌʌndəˈstænd/ UK
/ˌʌndəˈstand/ British, Southern, Standard
/ˌʊndəˈstand/ Northern England, UK
/ˌəndəˈstand/ UK, Wales
/ˌʌndəɾˈstand/ Scotland, UK
/ˌʌndɚˈstænd/ Canada, US
[ˌʌndɚˈstænd]
[ˌʌndɚˈsteə̯nd] ~ [ˌʌndɚˈstɛə̯nd]
/ˌʊndəɹˈstand/ Ireland
/ˌɐndəˈstæːnd/ Australia
[ˌɐndəˈstæːnd]
[ˌɐndəˈstɛːnd] ~ [ˌɐndəˈsteːnd]
/ˌɐndəˈstɛnd/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -ænd

Where it comes from

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”).

verb understands · understanding · understood · understand

intransitive, transitive, usually, of communication or means of communication To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend. Can you repeat what you just said? I didn't understand.
intransitive, transitive, usually, of communication or means of communication To know the meaning of. ‘[…] 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 toas
transitive, usually, of a skill To be thoroughly familiar with; to be able to undertake properly. The students understood the assignment.
transitive, usually, with clause as object To 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?
transitive, of people To know the intent, motives or character of; (of events) to know the causes of or reasons for. One day you say you love me, the next you ignore me—I don't understand you!
transitive To believe or infer, to think one grasps sufficiently despite potentially incomplete knowledge. I've been given to understand that you have a package for me?
Similar: believe
transitive To regard as present when not. In the imperative mood, the word “you” is usually understood.
humorous, rare To 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.

interjection understaund · unduhstand · unnuhstand

Malaysia, Singapore Uh-huh, I see; a way to acknowledge something said by the other speaker.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: realize, infer, see, interpret, read, empathize, sympathize, translate, gather, knowing, know, informed, comprehension, knowledge, comprehensible, perceive

verb

Translations

Every language

verb to grasp the meaning of

Español	entender, diquelar, dar en ello, entrevar, manyar
한국어	알다 alda, 이해하다 ihaehada
日本語	分かる wakaru, 理解する rikai suru
中文	明白 míngbái, 懂 dǒng, 了解 /暸解 liǎojiě, 理解 lǐjiě, 看得懂 kàndedǒng, 聽得懂 /听得懂 tīngdedǒng
हिन्दी	समझना samajhnā
Kiswahili	elewa
Português	compreender, entender, perceber
Français	comprendre
Deutsch	verstehen, begreifen
Italiano	capire, comprendere, intendere
Ελληνικά	καταλαβαίνω katalavaíno, κατανοώ katanoó
Română	înțelege, pricepe
Русский	понима́ть ponimátʹ, поня́ть ponjátʹ, разуме́ть razumétʹ
Tiếng Việt	hiểu
العربية	فَهِمَ fahima
עברית	הֵבִין hevín

verb to believe one grasps the meaning of

Español	entender
日本語	信じる shinjiru
Kiswahili	elewa
Português	acreditar
Deutsch	den Eindruck haben, glauben
Italiano	intendere
Ελληνικά	αντιλαμβάνομαι antilamvánomai
Русский	понима́ть ponimátʹ, поня́ть ponjátʹ
עברית	הֵבִין hevín

verb to believe

日本語	分かる wakaru, 理解する rikai suru
Kiswahili	elewa
Português	compreender
Deutsch	verstehen
Italiano	ritenere, credere
Русский	понима́ть ponimátʹ, поня́ть ponjátʹ

verb to regard as present when not

Español	sobreentenderse, subentenderse
Русский	подразумева́ть podrazumevátʹ

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Cite this

MLA

"understand." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/understand. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

understand. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/understand

Chicago

"understand." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/understand.

BibTeX

@misc{understand_2026,
  title = {understand},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/understand},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}