# to understand (to grasp)



## Dymn

Today I'm curious about the etymology of 'to understand' in your languages. Especially I'd like to know if it's somehow related to 'to grasp', 'to seize', 'to take'...

For example:

English:
_*understand *_(_under- + stand_) 
_*grasp *_('to take hold') 
_*get *_(informal, 'to obtain, receive, become', ultimately from PIE _*ghend-_ 'to seize') 
_*comprehend *_(Latin _comprehendere: com- _'with' + _prehendere _'to catch, grasp') 

Catalan:
_*entendre *_(Latin _intendere _'to turn one's attention, strain':_ in- _'in' + _tendere _'to stretch') 
_*comprendre *_(see above) 

Spanish:
_*entender *_(see above) 
_*comprender *_(see above) 
_*pillar *_(informal, 'to catch, get') 
_*coger *_('to take, catch, get') 

Thanks in advance!


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## 810senior

In Japanese:
*to understand*
分かるwakar-u (lit. 'to be distinguished, be separated', which stems from _wak-eru_ and its archaic form _wak-u_ 'to distinguish')
理解するrikai-s-uru (_ri_: reason, rationale; _kai_: to break apart, dissolve; the whole meaning is to break apart the rationale about something and come to understand what it has formed or referred to)


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## ger4

German:
_*verstehen*_ < _stehen_ (to stand)
_*begreifen*_ < _greifen_ (to grab, grip)
*erfassen* < _fassen_ (to grip, to hold; to contain)*
informal: _*schnallen*_ (to strap, to buckle something) < _Schnalle_ (noun: clasp)

*on etymonline I've just read that this is not related to the  English 'fathom' but derived from the PIE root *_ped_ (container),  cf 'vat'


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## apmoy70

Greek:

*«Καταλαβαίνω»* [katalaˈveno] --> _to understand, comprehend_ < ByzGr v. *«καταλαβαίνω» katalabaínō* --> _to seize, lay hold of, catch, overtake, grasp, understand, comprehend_ < Classical v. *«καταλαμβάνω» kătălămbánō* --> lit. _to seize, lay hold of, catch, overtake_, later also, (Hellenistic)*** _to understand, comprehend_ <  compound; prefix, preposition, and adverb *«κατὰ» katà*, and *«κάτα» kátă* --> _downwards, against, along, through, over, across, concerning_ (PIE *km̥t- _down, with, along_ cf Hitt. katta (postpos.), _along, with_) + Classical v. *«λαμβάνω» lămbánō* --> _to take, grasp_ (PIE *sleh₂gʷ- _to take, grasp_ cf Proto-Germanic *lakjaną > Eng. latch).

Note that in MoGr the Byzantine form of the verb *«καταλαβαίνω»* [katalaˈveno] means solely _understand_, while with the archaism *«καταλαμβάνω»* [katalamˈvano] (under Katharevousa influence) we mean _to seize, overtake, lay hold of_. The two verbs are practically identical.

***As it appears in the Christian NT: *«καταλαβέσθαι σὺν πᾶσι τοῖς ἁγίοις»* (Eph. 3:18) --> _comprehend with all the saints_ (NKJV)


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## Sobakus

Russian:
*понимать *[pənʲɪˈmatʲ], perf. *понять *[pɐˈnʲætʲ] <- *по* (general perfective prefix) + *-(н)имать*, perf. *-(н)ять, -йму/-(н)емлю* nearly always prefixed "to take (and all sorts of related meanings)" c.f. Rus. _иметь_ "to have", Lith. _im̃ti, imu_ "to take", Latv. _ņemt, ņemu_ "to take", Lat. _еmō_ "to buy, get", apparently also Ger. _nehmen_ "to take" with the /n/-/j/ alteration going back to PIE.


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## kloie

In





Diamant7 said:


> Today I'm curious about the etymology of 'to understand' in your languages. Especially I'd like to know if it's somehow related to 'to grasp', 'to seize', 'to take'...
> 
> For example:
> 
> English:
> _*understand *_(_under- + stand_)
> _*grasp *_('to take hold')
> _*get *_(informal, 'to obtain, receive, become', ultimately from PIE _*ghend-_ 'to seize')
> _*comprehend *_(Latin _comprehendere: com- _'with' + _prehendere _'to catch, grasp')
> 
> Catalan:
> _*entendre *_(Latin _intendere _'to turn one's attention, strain':_ in- _'in' + _tendere _'to stretch')
> _*comprendre *_(see above)
> 
> Spanish:
> _*entender *_(see above)
> _*comprender *_(see above)
> _*pillar *_(informal, 'to catch, get')
> _*coger *_('to take, catch, get')
> 
> Thanks in advance!


 English we use to catch on too
Ana told a joke,but it took mark awhile to catch on.


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## 810senior

810senior said:


> In Japanese:
> *to understand*
> 分かるwakar-u (lit. 'to be distinguished, be separated', which stems from _wak-eru_ and its archaic form _wak-u_ 'to distinguish')
> 理解するrikai-s-uru (_ri_: reason, rationale; _kai_: to break apart, dissolve; the whole meaning is to break apart the rationale about something and come to understand what it has formed or referred to)



I have forgotten adding something relevant to the topic.
_to grasp_ also makes sense as the meaning of understanding in Japanese, for instance, as in 物事の全体像を掴む(to grasp the whole image of things), 問題の核心をつかむ(to grasp the gist of problems) and so forth.


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## amikama

Hebrew:

*לתפוס *(to catch)
*לקלוט *(to absorb, to receive)

Both are colloquial.


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## Armas

Finnish

*käsittää* < _käsi_ "hand", the original meaning of the verb was "to take in hand"
*ymmärtää*, related to _ympäri_ "around", the original meaning must have been "to go around"
*älytä* < _äly_ "intellect"
*tajuta* < _taju_ "sense, consciousness"


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## ThomasK

Dutch
- *begrijpen* (be- / grab, implying some kind of power, superiority)
- *snappen* (grasp, I'd say)
- *vatten* (grab again)
_Verstaan_ is possible too but this has to do with standing.

Just by the way: this reminds me of the two (...) metaphors connected with understanding: either material (grabbing, like an object), or light (seeing - as in the *I see = I understand* thread). Think of 'ex-plain' vs. 'clar-ify'. Languages seem to use one of the them or both, as you can see here...


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## SuperXW

Most translations of "understand" in Chinese such as 理解 (same to Japanese), 明白 ("clear and bright"), don't concern "grasp".
But this one could be what you are asking for:

The character 领 can be used in:
1. To understand: 领会, 领悟...
2. To get, receive: 领取, 领奖...
Note that the character itself cannot be translated as "understand". It can form many words and meanings. Contexts are required.

And, we have sayings like this:
抓住要点 "to grasp the key point" = to get the point.


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## ThomasK

SuperXW said:


> The character 领 can be used in:
> 1. To understand: 领会, 领悟...
> 2. To get, receive: 领取, 领奖...
> Note that the character itself cannot be translated as "understand". It can form many words and meanings. Contexts are required.


I know one cannot rely on Google Translate, but it refers to 'collar' as a translation of 领. Could it be something like containing?


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## SuperXW

领 can participate like 5 types of meanings and words. "Collar" is one of them.
Containing? 领 does not relate to this one.


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## mataripis

Tagalog has kuha(get) and when saying ,do you get what I mean?- kuha mo ba ang ibig kong sabihin?It also mean grasp.


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## Zsanna

In Hungarian etimology doesn't help particularly...

_*understand - ért*_ or _*megért *_(meg is a preverb*, necessary in a given situation, usually depending on the structure and the meaning of the sentence, the etimology of the verb itself is not obvious, however, it serves as a root for other words, e.g. the noun "értelem"= intelligence/meaning/comprehension or the adjective "értelmes"=intelligent, sensible, meaningful, etc.)

*grasp - felfog* (is the closest I can think of... originally comes from the preverb fel, meaning "up", though hardly in its original meaning here*, and* fog* meaning hold, keep, grasp)

*get - *there are two expressions with the (more or less equivalent) verb* vesz*
1. _*tudomásul vesz *_(but it means rather "to accept the knowledge of", i.e. when informed about something, accepts the contents without any further questioning)
2. *veszi a lapot* (it is much closer to the way "get" is used, a colloquial expression, meaning word by word: "gets/accepts the card" i.e. like in a card game when one understands what the other wants to communicate to him by showing a particular card, also synonym for "take a hint")

_*comprehend - *_would be the same as the first (ért/megért) but it could also be *átlát* (="through" - preverb* - + "see". I.e. a sort of see through but - in the meaning of comprehend - not in the same sense as in English because it doesn't indicate that you are capable of seeing through an "obstacle" that was put there to mislead you e.g. but it is in the sense of grasping the "ins and outs" of a question or problem, understanding it fully.) (Although it is possible to use it in the sense it suggests in English, too: e.g. to see through a person.)

*preverbs originally (and mostly) have a spatial meaning (up, down, through, etc.) but in a lot of cases they have developed into a "thing" (with no possibile defintion) whereby they give a certain shade to the meaning of the verb that is very difficult to explain in itself. It needs analysis of the syntax, context, etc. so a much larger "area" than just a word.


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## ThomasK

mataripis said:


> Tagalog has kuha(get) and when saying ,do you get what I mean?- kuha mo ba ang ibig kong sabihin?It also mean grasp.


Can you give us some combinations with the practical grasp? Something like grabbing a book, grasping a branch ?


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## mataripis

Grabbing a book- pagdampot ng aklat. Grasping a branch- paghagip ng sanga.


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## ThomasK

So it is a different verb altogether!


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## mataripis

Yes. A moving object in air away from you and you grasp it or moving beside you( hagip) or ( halbot) or ( naabot- reach).so many words.


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## luitzen

West Frisian:
- begripe: be + gripe, gripe is to grab
- snappe: to grab (quickly, like to snatch)
- ferstean: fer + stean, stean is to stand
- ien de smiezen hawwe: to have in the "smiezen" (Duch has the same expression)

One could also ask:
- Hast him?: Do you have him? Similar to English: Do you get it?


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## Lugubert

Swedish has _fatta_ for bodily grasping as well as understanding. For the latter, we also use _begripa _(_gripa _= grasp) and _förstå_.


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## ger4

Lugubert said:


> Swedish has _fatta_ for bodily grasping as well as understanding. For the latter, we also use _begripa _(_gripa _= grasp) and _förstå_.


German _fassen_ can be used similarly but for some reason it seems to be used in its negated form more often, at least in everyday speech:
_Ich kann's nicht fassen! --> _lit. "I can it not grasp" = "I don't get it!", "Unbelievable!"


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## WestFevalia

French:
*Comprendre* (Latin _comprehendere: com- _'with' + _prehendere _'to catch, grasp')
*Saisir* (to catch, grasp)


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