English Meaning & Definitions
The capacity for understanding fully; the act or state of grasping with the mind.
- “The complex philosophical text was beyond the young child's comprehension.”
- “Reading comprehension is a critical skill taught in primary schools to ensure students understand the meaning of written texts.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
English Antonyms & Opposites
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “comprehension”.
Derived from the Late Latin word 'comprehensio', from 'comprehendere' meaning 'to take together, seize, or comprise', combining 'com-' (together) and 'prehendere' (to grasp). Over time, the physical sense of seizing evolved into the mental sense of grasping an idea or concept.
Think of 'prehend' as 'prehensile' (like a monkey's tail that grasps things); comprehension is when your mind 'grasps' an idea.
Frequently Asked Questions About “comprehension”
1. What is the meaning of “comprehension” in English?
In English, comprehension (noun) is defined as: “The capacity for understanding fully; the act or state of grasping with the mind.”.
2. How do you use “comprehension” in a sentence?
“The complex philosophical text was beyond the young child's comprehension.”
3. What are English synonyms of “comprehension”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “comprehension”?
Derived from the Late Latin word 'comprehensio', from 'comprehendere' meaning 'to take together, seize, or comprise', combining 'com-' (together) and 'prehendere' (to grasp). Over time, the physical sense of seizing evolved into the mental sense of grasping an idea or concept.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →A measurement of time indicating an instantaneous occurrence or a state where no time has elapsed.
The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.