[com.pre.hend] vt [ME, fr. L comprehendere, fr. com- + prehendere to grasp--more at get] (14c) 1: to grasp the nature, significance, or meaning of
2: to contain or hold within a total scope, significance, or amount "philosophy's scope ~s the truth of everything which man may understand --H. O. Taylor"
3: to include by construction or implication "does not prudence ~ all the virtues? --Thomas B. Silver" syn see understand, include -- com.pre.hend.ible adj