comprehend

Verb

Synonyms: grok get the picture savvy dig grasp compass apprehend perceive embrace encompass cover

WordNet 3.0

Verb (3)

get the meaning of something“Do you comprehend the meaning of this letter?”Synonyms: grok get the picture savvy dig grasp compass apprehend
to become aware of through the senses“I could perceive the ship coming over the horizon”Synonyms: perceive
include in scope; include as part of something broader; have as one's sphere or territory“This group encompasses a wide range of people from different backgrounds”“this should cover everyone in the group”Synonyms: embrace encompass cover

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Comprehend \Com`pre*hend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Comprehended; p. pr. & vb. n. Comprehending.] [L. comprehendere, comprehensum; com- + prehendere to grasp, seize; prae before + hendere (used only in comp.). See Get, and cf. Comprise.]

1.To contain; to embrace; to include; as, the states comprehended in the Austrian Empire. [1913 Webster]

Who hath . . . comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure.— Is. xl. 12.[1913 Webster]

2.To take in or include by construction or implication; to comprise; to imply. [1913 Webster]

Comprehended all in this one word, Discretion.— Hobbes.[1913 Webster]

And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying.— Rom. xiii. 9.[1913 Webster]

3.To take into the mind; to grasp with the understanding; to apprehend the meaning of; to understand. [1913 Webster]

At a loss to comprehend the question.— W. Irwing.[1913 Webster]

Great things doeth he, which we can not comprehend.— Job. xxxvii. 5.

Syn: To contain; include; embrace; comprise; inclose; grasp; embody; involve; imply; apprehend; imagine; conceive; understand. See Apprehend. [1913 Webster]