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say it: uhn-dur-STAN-ding
understanding is a noun and adjective meaning "the cognitive condition of someone who understands". It is pronounced /ˌʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/ — uhn-dur-STAN-ding. It carries 5 recorded senses.
the cognitive condition of someone who understands
“he has virtually no understanding of social cause and effect”
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”
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”
characterized by understanding based on comprehension and discernment and empathy
“an understanding friend”
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.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for understanding come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.