Verb
(third-person singular simple present forstands, present participle forstanding, simple past and past participle forstood)
- To stand against; oppose; withstand.
- (UK dialectal) To understand; comprehend.
Origin
From Middle English forstanden, from Old English forstandan (“to defend, help, protect, withstand, prevent, hinder, resist, oppose, benefit, avail, understand, signify, be equal to”), from Proto-Germanic *farstandaną, *frastandaną (“to understand, oppose”), equivalent to for- + stand. Cognate with Dutch verstaan (“to understand”), German verstehen (“to understand”), Swedish förstå (“to comprehend, understand”).
