Understanding

How to spell understanding

13 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce understanding

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does understanding mean?

1. nounThe ability to grasp the meaning, nature, or workings of something.
2. nounAn informal or unspoken agreement or arrangement between people.
3. adjectiveShowing sympathy, patience, or tolerance toward others.

Understanding in a sentence

• noun

  A clear understanding of the budget helped her plan the project.

• noun

  The two firms reached an understanding about sharing the warehouse.

• adjective

  Her understanding manager let her leave early to collect the children.

• noun

  The manual gave him a basic understanding of how the engine worked.

• noun

  There was a quiet understanding that he would cover the late shifts.

• adjective

  He was patient and understanding when she explained the delay.

Where does understanding come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends directly from the Old English verb understandan, which was formed from under and standan, the ancestor of the modern verb 'stand'. The literal sense is debated, because here 'under' probably did not mean 'beneath' but rather 'among' or 'between', so to understand something was to stand in the midst of it and grasp it fully. The noun and adjective forms grew naturally out of the verb, with the -ing ending turning the action of comprehending into a thing one possesses or a quality one shows. The same pattern of a native Germanic prefix joined to 'stand' survives in 'withstand' and 'understood', which is why the spelling stays plain and Anglo-Saxon rather than picking up any silent or doubled letters. Because the word is built from three familiar English chunks, the main spelling care is simply remembering all of them: under, stand, and ing, written straight through with no surprises.

How the word is built

• under- (among, between)
• stand (to stand)
• -ing (noun/adjective suffix)