understanding: Meaning and Definition of

un•der•stand•ing

Pronunciation: (un"dur-stan'ding), [key]
— n.
  1. mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.
  2. intellectual faculties; intelligence; mind: a quick understanding.
  3. superior power of discernment; enlightened intelligence: With her keen understanding she should have become a leader.
  4. knowledge of or familiarity with a particular thing; skill in dealing with or handling something: an understanding of accounting practice.
  5. a state of cooperative or mutually tolerant relations between people: To him, understanding and goodwill were the supreme virtues.
  6. a mutual agreement, esp. of a private, unannounced, or tacit kind: They had an understanding about who would do the dishes.
  7. an agreement regulating joint activity or settling differences, often informal or preliminary in character: After hours of negotiation, no understanding on a new contract was reached.
    1. the power of abstract thought; logical power.
    2. Kantianism.the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.
—adj.
  1. characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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