- 1[uncountable, singular] understanding (of something) the knowledge that someone has about a particular subject or situation The committee has little or no understanding of the problem. The existence of God is beyond human understanding (= humans cannot know whether God exists or not). Most of the students have a sound understanding of English grammar.
- 2[countable, usually singular] an informal agreement We finally came to an understanding about what hours we would work. We have this understanding that no one talks about work over lunch.
- 3[uncountable, singular] the ability to understand why people behave in a particular way and the willingness to forgive them when they do something wrong We must tackle the problem with sympathy and understanding. We are looking for a better understanding between the two nations. Try to show a little more understanding.
- 4[uncountable, countable] understanding (of something) the particular way in which someone understands something synonym interpretation My understanding of the situation is… The statement is open to various understandings. understand verb (≠misunderstand)understandable adjectivemisunderstood adjectiveunderstanding adjective noun (≠misunderstanding)Idioms
used to introduce a condition that must be agreed before something else can happen They agreed to the changes on the understanding that they would be introduced gradually.
Check pronunciation: understanding