Understand in Different Languages
Discover 'Understand' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Understanding is a fundamental aspect of communication and connection. It goes beyond simply hearing words and involves grasping the ideas, emotions, and intentions behind them. This concept is so significant that it has been explored in depth by philosophers, psychologists, and educators alike. Moreover, understanding is culturally important, as it forms the basis of empathy, collaboration, and social harmony.
Given the importance of understanding, it's no surprise that people around the world are interested in learning how to say this word in different languages. After all, being able to convey this concept accurately is essential for building meaningful relationships and engaging in meaningful dialogue.
Here are a few sample translations of understand to pique your curiosity:
- Comprendre (French)
- Entender (Spanish)
- Verstehen (German)
- Begrijpen (Dutch)
- Fatt (Norwegian)
Stay tuned for a more comprehensive list of translations of understand in different languages, along with interesting cultural contexts and historical facts associated with this word.
Understand
Understand in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | verstaan | ||
| "Verstaan" comes from the Middle Dutch "verstaen" and can mean "to be able to understand," "to be able to interpret," or "to know thoroughly." | |||
| Amharic | ተረዳ | ||
| The word "ተረዳ" can also mean "to interpret" or "to mediate" in Amharic. | |||
| Hausa | fahimta | ||
| Fahimta in Hausa also means 'thought', 'intelligence', 'knowledge', and 'comprehension'. | |||
| Igbo | ịghọta | ||
| The word 'ịghọta' in Igbo is derived from the Proto-Benue-Congo root 'ɓɔŋ', meaning 'to perceive' or 'to comprehend'. | |||
| Malagasy | hahatakatra | ||
| The Malagasy word 'hahatakatra' not only means 'understand' but also 'think', 'intend', and 'know'. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | mvetsetsa | ||
| The word "mvetsetsa" derives from "mwesa" which means "to know" and the reduplicative suffix "-ets-" indicating "deeply" or "completely". | |||
| Shona | nzwisisa | ||
| In Shona, "nzwisisa" can also mean "to have an idea of". | |||
| Somali | fahmo | ||
| fahmo can also mean "to sense" or "to perceive". | |||
| Sesotho | utloisisa | ||
| Ultoisa means "to understand," "to know," or "to have knowledge of." In Sesotho, it is related to the word "loisa," which means "to hear" or "to listen." | |||
| Swahili | kuelewa | ||
| The word "kuelewa" in Swahili can also mean "to know" or "to be aware of". | |||
| Xhosa | qonda | ||
| "Qonda" can also mean "to know" or "to recognize" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yoruba | loye | ||
| "Loye" also means an idiom or a parable in the Yoruba Language. | |||
| Zulu | qonda | ||
| In Zulu, "qonda" can also mean "to perceive" or "to comprehend". | |||
| Bambara | ka famuya | ||
| Ewe | se egᴐme | ||
| Kinyarwanda | gusobanukirwa | ||
| Lingala | kokanga ntina | ||
| Luganda | okutegeera | ||
| Sepedi | kwešiša | ||
| Twi (Akan) | te aseɛ | ||
Understand in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | تفهم | ||
| The word "tafham" stems from "fahm", which also refers to good judgment and comprehension. | |||
| Hebrew | מבינה | ||
| In biblical Hebrew, מבינה can also refer to "insight, knowledge, or wisdom". | |||
| Pashto | پوهیدل | ||
| The word "پوهیدل" can also mean "to realize" or "to come to know" in Pashto. | |||
| Arabic | تفهم | ||
| The word "tafham" stems from "fahm", which also refers to good judgment and comprehension. | |||
Understand in Western European Languages
| Albanian | kuptoj | ||
| "Kuptoj" in Albanian comes from the Slavic "kupiti," which means "to hold" or "to take into possession." | |||
| Basque | ulertu | ||
| The Basque word “ulertu” means to understand, to perceive, or to comprehend. It originates from the Latin word “intellegere,” which means “to grasp with the mind.” | |||
| Catalan | entendre | ||
| In its original meaning, "entendre" comes from Latin "intendere" and meant "to direct one's attention." | |||
| Croatian | razumjeti | ||
| "Razumjeti", derived from Proto-Slavic "*razuměti", is a complex verb that also means "understand". | |||
| Danish | forstå | ||
| The Danish word "forstå" is derived from the Old Norse word "forstanda", which means "to stand before or in front of"} | |||
| Dutch | begrijpen | ||
| "Begrijpen" comes from "begrijpen" (to grasp with the hands), and the verb "grijpen" (to grasp). | |||
| English | understand | ||
| The word "understand" originates from the Middle English word "understonden," which itself comes from the Old English "understandan" meaning "to stand under" or "to perceive." | |||
| French | comprendre | ||
| Comprendre is also used to refer to 'including,' 'comprising,' or 'embracing.' | |||
| Frisian | begripe | ||
| The word "begripe" is derived from Old Frisian "bigripa", which originally meant "to grasp". | |||
| Galician | comprender | ||
| "Comprehender" means to understand or to perceive in Galician. | |||
| German | verstehen | ||
| Verstehen, besides meaning “to understand,” can also mean “to pretend you understand.” | |||
| Icelandic | skilja | ||
| The verb skilja also means cleave or separate, which might reflect its Proto-Indo-European root skel- (“to cut”). | |||
| Irish | tuig | ||
| The word "tuig" can also mean "evidence" or "proof" in Irish. | |||
| Italian | capire | ||
| Capire derives from the Latin "capere" (to seize, grasp, comprehend), and is also used figuratively to refer to comprehending or perceiving something. | |||
| Luxembourgish | verstoen | ||
| Verstoen is derived from the Old High German word 'firstandan', meaning 'to grasp with the mind' or 'to perceive'. | |||
| Maltese | tifhem | ||
| The word "tifhem" in Maltese can also mean "to be aware" or "to know". | |||
| Norwegian | forstå | ||
| The word "forstå" derives from the Old Norse word "forstaðr," meaning "foresight" or "intelligence." | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | compreendo | ||
| Compreendo is derived from the Latin "comprehendere," meaning "to seize or grasp mentally." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | tuigsinn | ||
| The Gaelic word "tuigsinn" also means "comprehension", "perception", or "intuition". | |||
| Spanish | entender | ||
| Entender originally meant "to stretch out" or "to spread out" in Old Spanish, and could also mean "to pay attention" or "to listen to". | |||
| Swedish | förstå | ||
| "Förstå" is also used in Swedish to mean "to take care of someone or something" or "to be able to explain something". | |||
| Welsh | deall | ||
| The word 'deall' can also mean 'to perceive,' 'to notice,' or 'to observe' in Welsh. | |||
Understand in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | зразумець | ||
| The verb "зразумець" is cognate with the Russian "разум", which originally meant "counting" (cf. German "Rat", from Proto-Indo-European "*re-" "calculate, reckon". | |||
| Bosnian | razumem | ||
| The word "razumem" in Bosnian derives from the Old Church Slavonic word "razumjeti", meaning "to understand" and in Croatian, Czech and Slovak it has the meaning of "to realize". | |||
| Bulgarian | разберете | ||
| The verb "разберете" in Bulgarian has a secondary meaning of "break down" or "disassemble". | |||
| Czech | rozumět | ||
| The Czech word "rozumět" is cognate with the Russian word "разуметь" and the Polish word "rozumieć", all derived from the Proto-Slavic verb *razuměti, meaning "to think" or "to judge." | |||
| Estonian | aru saama | ||
| The Estonian word "aru saama" derives from the words "aru", meaning sense or reason, and "saama", meaning to get or receive. | |||
| Finnish | ymmärtää | ||
| The Finnish word 'ymmärtää' ('understand') originates from the Proto-Uralic root *ma-, meaning 'know' or 'remember'. | |||
| Hungarian | megért | ||
| The Hungarian word "megért" can also mean "deserve" or "be worth". | |||
| Latvian | saprast | ||
| The word "saprast" has Indo-European origins, deriving from the root "-sper" denoting "hope or expectation." | |||
| Lithuanian | suprasti | ||
| The word suprasi is related to other Balto-Slavic words such as the Polish word zrozumiec, which also means “to understand”. | |||
| Macedonian | разбере | ||
| The Macedonian verb "разбере" derives from the Proto-Slavic root "*birati"," to select". | |||
| Polish | rozumiesz | ||
| Rozumiesz derives from the Old Polish word 'rozumieć', meaning 'to judge' or 'to discern'. | |||
| Romanian | a intelege | ||
| The Romanian verb "a intelege" (to understand) derives from the Latin word "intelligere" (to grasp, to know), which in turn originates from "inter" (between) and "legere" (to choose, to gather). | |||
| Russian | понять | ||
| "Понять" is cognate to the English word "cognize" and also means "to smell" in Russian. | |||
| Serbian | разумети | ||
| The word 'разумети' also means 'judge' in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | rozumieť | ||
| The word "rozumieť" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *razuměti, meaning "to perceive, comprehend, or understand". | |||
| Slovenian | razumeti | ||
| "Razumeti" in Slovenian also means "to judge", originating from Proto-Slavic "raz-" and "-umieti", meaning "to divide, judge" and "to know" respectively. | |||
| Ukrainian | зрозуміти | ||
| The Ukrainian word "зрозуміти" comes from the Proto-Slavic root *razum-, which also appears in Russian "разуметь", Polish "rozumieć", and Czech "rozumět". | |||
Understand in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | বোঝা | ||
| The word 'বোঝা' derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *bherǵʰ-, meaning 'to bear' or 'to carry' | |||
| Gujarati | સમજવું | ||
| The word "સમજવું" in Gujarati comes from the Sanskrit word "sam" meaning "well" and "jña" meaning "know" and can also mean "to comprehend". | |||
| Hindi | समझना | ||
| In Sanskrit, "समझना" (samjhana) means "to put together," implying the process of comprehending disparate pieces into a coherent whole. | |||
| Kannada | ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ | ||
| The word "ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ" can also mean "to comprehend" or "to get the meaning of something." | |||
| Malayalam | മനസ്സിലാക്കുക | ||
| Marathi | समजणे | ||
| Marathi 'समजणे' likely derives from the Sanskrit word 'samjaati,' meaning 'to comprehend or realize'. | |||
| Nepali | बुझ्नु | ||
| Nepali word "बुझ्नु" also refers to "extinguishing" in English, sharing an etymology with Sanskrit "Budh" which means to know or awaken. | |||
| Punjabi | ਸਮਝੋ | ||
| The Punjabi word "ਸਮਝੋ" is rooted in Sanskrit and means "to hold or grasp together"} | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | තේරුම් ගන්න | ||
| The word "තේරුම් ගන්න" can refer to acquiring knowledge, interpreting a meaning, or grasping the gist of something. | |||
| Tamil | புரிந்து | ||
| The word 'புரிந்து' in Tamil can also mean 'to reach', 'to arrive', or 'to be obtained'. | |||
| Telugu | అర్థం చేసుకోండి | ||
| Urdu | سمجھ | ||
| The Urdu word "سمجھ" (samajh) originates from the Sanskrit word "sam" (with) and "ja" (born), implying "understanding something together with others." | |||
Understand in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 理解 | ||
| 了解 is also used in Chinese to describe the act of coming to terms with something, such as a difficult situation or a loss. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 理解 | ||
| 理解 also contains elements of 'arrive at', 'reach' or 'attain', i.e. "understanding is a result of arrival or reaching". | |||
| Japanese | 理解する | ||
| The word 理解する is made up of the kanji 理 (ri, reason), 解 (kai, separation), 決 (ketsu, decision), and 悟 (go, enlightenment). | |||
| Korean | 이해하다 | ||
| The verb 이해하다 (ihaehada) is also used in the sense of "to comprehend" or "to grasp". | |||
| Mongolian | ойлгох | ||
| The verb "ойлгох" (think) is cognate with "ой" (mind, thought) and "ойр" (back in front of a vowel-initial suffix), referring to the back of the head/mind where cognition is perceived to occur. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | နားလည်သည် | ||
Understand in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | memahami | ||
| 'Memahami' also means 'to have an understanding about or with' in Indonesian. | |||
| Javanese | ngerti | ||
| In Javanese, "ngerti" (understand) can also mean "know" or "realize". | |||
| Khmer | យល់ | ||
| In Khmer, "យល់" is derived from the Sanskrit word "वैल", meaning "to know" or "to perceive". | |||
| Lao | ເຂົ້າໃຈ | ||
| Also refers to a dish of steamed glutinous rice with a topping. | |||
| Malay | faham | ||
| The word 'faham' is derived from the Arabic word 'fahima', meaning 'to comprehend', or 'apprehend'. | |||
| Thai | เข้าใจ | ||
| Thai word "เข้าใจ" originates from Pali language "patiñana", meaning "to know". The original implication of the word is more profound than its current use to denote comprehension alone. | |||
| Vietnamese | hiểu biết | ||
| Hiểu biết combines the root "hiểu" (know, understand) with the derivative suffix "biết" (to know), emphasizing a profound understanding. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | maintindihan | ||
Understand in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | başa düş | ||
| The word "başa düş" in Azerbaijani also means "to comprehend" or "to grasp". | |||
| Kazakh | түсіну | ||
| The Kazakh word "түсіну" can also refer to the concept of "comprehension" or "understanding something thoroughly" | |||
| Kyrgyz | түшүнүү | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "түшүнүү" can also refer to the process of "receiving understanding" or "absorbing knowledge." | |||
| Tajik | фаҳмидан | ||
| "Фаҳмидан" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bhendh-, meaning "to grasp, understand". | |||
| Turkmen | düşün | ||
| Uzbek | tushunish | ||
| The Uzbek word "tushunish" (understand) is derived from the Persian word "tashnevis" meaning "a copy or transcript". | |||
| Uyghur | چۈشىنىش | ||
Understand in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hoʻomaopopo | ||
| The word "hoʻomaopopo" can also mean "to cause to understand" or "to explain". | |||
| Maori | mārama | ||
| "Mārama" also means "light" or "enlightenment" in Māori, reflecting the interconnectedness of understanding and illumination in the Māori worldview. | |||
| Samoan | malamalama | ||
| In Samoan, the word 'malamalama' also means 'to brighten' or 'to illuminate', indicating the close connection between understanding and the bringing of light to a situation. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | intindihin | ||
| "Intindihin" in Tagalog originally meant "to extend the hand". | |||
Understand in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | amuyaña | ||
| Guarani | kũmby | ||
Understand in International Languages
| Esperanto | kompreni | ||
| The Esperanto word "kompreni" is cognate with the English word "comprehend," and it also has the meaning "to grasp." | |||
| Latin | intellegite | ||
| "Intellegite" comes from Latin "legere" and means to choose, to take, to collect, and even to read. | |||
Understand in Others Languages
| Greek | καταλαβαίνουν | ||
| The word 'καταλαβαίνουν' is derived from the verb 'λαμβάνω' meaning 'to take' or 'to receive'. | |||
| Hmong | nkag siab | ||
| In White Hmong, "nkag siab" literally means to "have taste or smell". | |||
| Kurdish | têgihîştin | ||
| The Kurdish word "têgihîştin" is derived from the Persian word "fahmidan", which means "to grasp" or "to comprehend." | |||
| Turkish | anlama | ||
| The word "anlama" in Turkish also means "meaning" or "sense" and is related to the verb "anlatmak" (to tell, to explain). | |||
| Xhosa | qonda | ||
| "Qonda" can also mean "to know" or "to recognize" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yiddish | פֿאַרשטיין | ||
| The Yiddish word "פֿאַרשטיין" ("understand") derives from the Middle High German word "verstān", which means "to comprehend" or "to listen; to hear, to perceive." | |||
| Zulu | qonda | ||
| In Zulu, "qonda" can also mean "to perceive" or "to comprehend". | |||
| Assamese | বুজি পোৱা | ||
| Aymara | amuyaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | बुझायिल | ||
| Dhivehi | ފަހުމްވުން | ||
| Dogri | समझेआ | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | maintindihan | ||
| Guarani | kũmby | ||
| Ilocano | awaten | ||
| Krio | ɔndastand | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | تێگەیشتن | ||
| Maithili | बुझनाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯈꯪꯕ | ||
| Mizo | hrethiam | ||
| Oromo | hubachuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବୁ understand | ||
| Quechua | hamutay | ||
| Sanskrit | अवबोधनम् | ||
| Tatar | аңлау | ||
| Tigrinya | ተረዳእ | ||
| Tsonga | twisisa | ||