- to grasp mentally; understand
- to include; take in; comprise
Origin of comprehend
Middle English comprehenden from Classical Latin comprehendere from com-, with + prehendere, to catch hold of, seize: see prehensile
verb
- Knowing what someone is talking about is an example of to comprehend.
- Adding extra information to a report is an example of to comprehend.
The definition of comprehend means to understand the meaning or to include someone or something as a part.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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comprehend
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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comprehend
transitive verb
com·pre·hend·ed, com·pre·hend·ing, com·pre·hends- To take in the meaning, nature, or importance of; grasp. See Synonyms at understand.
- To have as part of something larger; encompass or include. See Synonyms at include.
Origin of comprehend
Middle English comprehenden from Latin comprehendere com- com- prehendere to grasp ; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.Related Forms:
- com′pre·hend′i·ble
adjective
- com′pre·hend′ing·ly
adverb
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"Comprehend." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Comprehend.
APA Style
Comprehend. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Comprehend
Verb
(third-person singular simple present comprehends, present participle comprehending, simple past and past participle comprehended)
- (now rare) To include, comprise; to contain. [from 14th c.]
- To understand or grasp fully and thoroughly. [from 14th c.]
Origin
From Latin comprehendere (“to grasp”), from the prefix com-, + prehendere (“to seize”).
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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MLA Style
"Comprehend." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/Comprehend.
APA Style
Comprehend. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/Comprehend
Sentence Examples
- I tried to comprehend his thought process but I found it irrational.
- Only a handful of human minds can comprehend his work.
- We cannot comprehend either the Emperor's aims or his actions!
- Deidre struggled to absorb the wild story, unable to comprehend most of it.
- There was thus a common ground on which category and intuition were united in one, and an intermediate process whereby the universal of the category might be so far individualized as to comprehend the particular of sense.
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WORDS NEAR comprehend IN THE DICTIONARY
- comprehend
- comprecation
- comprecations
- compreg