— understandingly , adv.
/un'deuhr stan"ding/ , 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.
8. Philos.
a. the power of abstract thought; logical power.
b. Kantianism. the mental faculty resolving the sensory manifold into the transcendental unity of apperception.
adj.
9. characterized by understanding; prompted by, based on, or demonstrating comprehension, intelligence, discernment, empathy, or the like: an understanding attitude.
[ bef. 1050; ME understandynge, late OE understandincge (n.). See UNDERSTAND, -ING 1 , -ING 2 ]