comprehend

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verb com·pre·hend \ ˌkäm-pri-ˈhend , -prē- \

Definition of comprehend

transitive verb

1 :to grasp the nature, significance, or meaning of

unable to comprehend what has happened

2 :to contain or hold within a total scope, significance, or amount

… philosophy's scope comprehends the truth of everything which man may understand …
—Henry Osborn Taylor

3 :to include by construction or implication

Does not prudence comprehend all the virtues?
—Thomas B. Silver

Our civilization comprehends great variety and complexity …
—Perry Meisel

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comprehendible

play \ˌkäm-pri-ˈhen-də-bəl, -prē-\ adjective

See comprehend defined for English-language learners

See comprehend defined for kids

Examples of comprehend in a Sentence

the age at which children can comprehend the difference between right and wrong
it took me a while to comprehend algebra

Recent Examples of comprehend from the Web

As Radican struggled to comprehend the situation, Smith snuck out of the second car and knelt down on one knee beside her.

— meghan overdeep, Southern Living, "Traffic Stop Turns into Epic Proposal in Texas," 20 July 2017
It isn't meant to be for dads who don't comprehend events, to send in their daughters to do their jobs for them.

— chicago tribune, chicagotribune.com, "Quickly," 10 July 2017
The network is too complex for humans to comprehend its exact decisions.

— paul voosen, Science | AAAS, "How AI detectives are cracking open the black box of deep learning," 6 July 2017
The head of Turkey's national board of education announced last month that evolution was too controversial for high school students to comprehend and removed it from the curriculum.

— nancy coleman, CNN, "Now anyone in Florida can challenge what's taught in schools," 3 July 2017
Of course, some people can't comprehend this at all.

— author: wayne and wanda, Alaska Dispatch News, "My girlfriend got laid off, and she won’t let me pay for things. Now our dating life is a lot less fun.," 1 July 2017
Even for Alston-Buck, who grew up in West Baltimore, the environment is difficult to comprehend.

— catherine rentz, baltimoresun.com, "West Texas oilman is unlikely angel for West Baltimore youth center," 1 July 2017
Mystery—never being able to completely comprehend that which has captured your heart—is an important component of falling in love.

— jeff nichols, Chicago Reader, "Chicago was a sanctuary city long before Trump’s presidency," 22 June 2017
There's more here than meets the eye's ability to instantly comprehend.

— julie hinds, Detroit Free Press, "Michael Bay's love affair with Detroit continues with 'Transformers: The Last Knight'," 18 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'comprehend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

To comprehend is to mentally grasp something's complete nature or meaning. Comprehend is thus often a bit stronger than understand: for example, you may understand the instructions in a handbook without completely comprehending their purpose. Comprehend's second meaning is much less common. Using that sense of the word, we could say that good manners comprehends (that is, includes) more than simple table etiquette, for example, or that true courage comprehends more than just physical showing off. And something comprehensive includes a great deal: so a comprehensive exam, for instance, includes all the material that was studied in the course.

Origin and Etymology of comprehend

Middle English, from Anglo-French comprendre, comprehendre, from Latin comprehendere, from com- + prehendere to grasp — more at get

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

comprehend Synonyms

Synonyms

appreciate, apprehend, assimilate, behold, catch, catch on (to), cognize, compass, conceive, cotton (to or on to), decipher, decode, dig, discern, get, grasp, grok, intuit, know, make, make out, perceive, recognize, register, savvy, see, seize, sense, tumble (to), twig, understand, pick up on

Antonyms

miss

Related Words

absorb, digest, take in; realize; fathom, penetrate, pierce

Near Antonyms

misapprehend, misconceive, misconstrue, misinterpret, misperceive, misread, mistake, misunderstand

Synonym Discussion of comprehend

understand, comprehend, appreciate mean to have a clear or complete idea of. understand and comprehend are very often interchangeable. understand may, however, stress the fact of having attained a firm mental grasp of something.

- orders that were fully understood and promptly obeyed

comprehend may stress the process of coming to grips with something intellectually.

- I have trouble comprehending your reasons for doing this

appreciate implies a just evaluation or judgment of a thing's value or nature.

- failed to appreciate the risks involved

include, comprehend, embrace, involve mean to contain within as part of the whole. include suggests the containment of something as a constituent, component, or subordinate part of a larger whole.

- the price of dinner includes dessert

comprehend implies that something comes within the scope of a statement or definition.

- his system comprehends all history

embrace implies a gathering of separate items within a whole.

- her faith embraces both Christian and non-Christian beliefs

involve suggests inclusion by virtue of the nature of the whole, whether by being its natural or inevitable consequence.

- the new job involves a lot of detail

COMPREHEND Defined for English Language Learners

comprehend

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verb

Definition of comprehend for English Language Learners

: to understand (something, such as a difficult or complex subject)

COMPREHEND Defined for Kids

comprehend

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verb com·pre·hend \ ˌkäm-pri-ˈhend \

Definition of comprehend for Students

comprehended; comprehending

1 :to understand fully

2 :to take in :include

Learn More about comprehend

See words that rhyme with comprehend Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for comprehend Spanish Central: Translation of comprehend Nglish: Translation of comprehend for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of comprehend for Arabic speakers

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comprehendible

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Origin and Etymology of comprehend

comprehend Synonyms

Synonyms

Antonyms

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Synonym Discussion of comprehend

COMPREHEND Defined for English Language Learners

comprehend

Definition of comprehend for English Language Learners

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comprehend

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