understanding

1. 1.

   the cognitive condition of someone who understands

   “he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect”

   Synonymsapprehensiondiscernmentsavvy

   Broaderknowing

   Narrowercomprehensionself-knowledgesmatteringappreciationgraspinghindsightinsightrealization
2. 2.

   the statement (oral or written) of an exchange of promises

   “they had an agreement that they would not interfere in each other's business”

   “there was an understanding between management and the workers”

   Synonymsagreement

   Broaderstatement

   Narrowerconspiracyfair-trade agreementcovenantunilateral contractsalebargain
3. 3.

   an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion

   “his sympathies were always with the underdog”

   “I knew I could count on his understanding”

   Synonymssympathy

   Broaderinclination
4. 4.

   the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination

   “we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil”

   Synonymsreasonintellect

   Broaderfaculty

1. 1.

   characterized by understanding based on comprehension and discernment and empathy

   “an understanding friend”

   Similarperceptive

Other forms of understanding

plural

understandings·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about understanding

What does understanding mean?

understanding means "the cognitive condition of someone who understands". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in understanding?

understanding has 4 syllables: un-der-stan-ding. The stress falls on "stan". In IPA it is /ˌʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/.

What is another word for understanding?

Close synonyms include apprehension, discernment, savvy, agreement, sympathy. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is understanding a common word?

understanding is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with understanding?

7 words rhyme with understanding. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.