understand
英 [ʌndə'stænd]
美['ʌndɚ'stænd]
- vt. 理解；懂；获悉；推断；省略
- vi. 理解；懂得；熟悉
词态变化
第三人称单数: understands;过去式: understood;过去分词: understood;现在分词: understanding;
助记提示
1、under + stand.
2、字面含义：stand in the midst of.
3、站在其中，沐浴在知识的海洋里，所谓内行、内行，身在其中，才解其味也；因此，只有身在其中\置身其中，才能理解、明白。
4、At here, the under is not the usual word meaning "beneath," but from Old English under, from PIE *enter- "between, among". 另见：undertake.
2、字面含义：stand in the midst of.
3、站在其中，沐浴在知识的海洋里，所谓内行、内行，身在其中，才解其味也；因此，只有身在其中\置身其中，才能理解、明白。
4、At here, the under is not the usual word meaning "beneath," but from Old English under, from PIE *enter- "between, among". 另见：undertake.
中文词源
understand 理解
词源理解存争议。under-, 来自inter-变体，在里面，词源同interact, undertake,stand, 站立，立场，即站在里面的，同一立场的。引申词义理解，懂得。
英文词源
- understand
- understand: [OE] The compound verb understand was formed in the centuries immediately preceding the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain. It is composed, of course, of under and stand, and the semantic link between ‘standing under’ something and ‘knowing about’ it may be ‘being close to’ it.
- understand (v.)
- Old English understandan "comprehend, grasp the idea of," probably literally "stand in the midst of," from under + standan "to stand" (see stand (v.)). If this is the meaning, the under is not the usual word meaning "beneath," but from Old English under, from PIE *nter- "between, among" (cognates: Sanskrit antar "among, between," Latin inter "between, among," Greek entera "intestines;" see inter-). Related: Understood; understanding.
That is the suggestion in Barnhart, but other sources regard the "among, between, before, in the presence of" sense of Old English prefix and preposition under as other meanings of the same word. "Among" seems to be the sense in many Old English compounds that resemble understand, such as underniman "to receive," undersecan "examine, investigate, scrutinize" (literally "underseek"), underðencan "consider, change one's mind," underginnan "to begin." It also seems to be the sense still in expressions such as under such circumstances.
Perhaps the ultimate sense is "be close to;" compare Greek epistamai "I know how, I know," literally "I stand upon." Similar formations are found in Old Frisian (understonda), Middle Danish (understande), while other Germanic languages use compounds meaning "stand before" (German verstehen, represented in Old English by forstanden "understand," also "oppose, withstand"). For this concept, most Indo-European languages use figurative extensions of compounds that literally mean "put together," or "separate," or "take, grasp" (see comprehend). Old English oferstandan, Middle English overstonden, literally "over-stand" seem to have been used only in literal senses. For "to stand under" in a physical sense, Old English had undergestandan.
双语例句
- 1. It was clear Cohen didn't understand what Millard was driving at.
- 看得出科恩并不明白米勒德想说什么。
来自柯林斯例句
- 2. I thought, "Here'ssomeone who'll understand me." So I wrote to her.
- 我想：“这个人会理解我的。”于是开始给她写信。
来自柯林斯例句
- 3. "Please understand this," she began, a tremble in her voice.
- “请理解这一点，”她开始说道，声音有些发颤。
来自柯林斯例句
- 4. What I did for you was free, gratis, you understand?
- 我为你所做的一切都是免费的，无偿的，你明白吗？
来自柯林斯例句
- 5. "I can understand how you feel," Desmond said with great reasonableness.
- “我能理解你的感受，”德斯蒙德很通情达理地说。
来自柯林斯例句