Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The act or fact of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of; understanding.
  • noun The knowledge that is acquired in this way.
  • noun Capacity to include.
  • noun Logic The sum of meanings and corresponding implications inherent in a term.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of comprehending, including, or embracing; a comprising; inclusion.
  • noun The quality or state of being comprehensive; comprehensiveness.
  • noun That which comprehends or contains within itself; a summary; an epitome.
  • noun Capacity of the mind to understand; power of the understanding to receive and contain ideas; ability to know.
  • noun The act or fact of understanding; successful exercise of the knowing faculty; grasp of the significance or particulars of anything: as, to be quick of comprehension; the distinct comprehension of a term or of a subject.
  • noun In rhetoric, a trope or figure by which the name of a whole is put for a part, or that of a part for a whole, or a definite number for an indefinite.
  • noun In logic, the sum of all those attributes which make up the content of a given conception: thus, rational, sensible, moral, etc., form the comprehension of the conception man: opposed to extension, extent.
  • noun Synonyms See list under apprehension.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of comprehending, containing, or comprising; inclusion.
  • noun obsolete That which is comprehended or inclosed within narrow limits; a summary; an epitome.
  • noun The capacity of the mind to perceive and understand; the power, act, or process of grasping with the intellect; perception; understanding.
  • noun (Logic) The complement of attributes which make up the notion signified by a general term.
  • noun (Rhet.) A figure by which the name of a whole is put for a part, or that of a part for a whole, or a definite number for an indefinite.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun thorough understanding
  • noun logic The totality of intensions, that is, attributes, characters, marks, properties, or qualities, that the object possesses, or else the totality of intensions that are pertinent to the context of a given discussion.
  • noun computing a compact syntax for generating a list in some functional programming languages

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the relation of comprising something
  • noun an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English comprehensioun, from Latin comprehēnsiō, comprehēnsiōn-, from comprehēnsus, past participle of comprehendere, to comprehend; see comprehend.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle French compréhension.

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Examples

  • In a course of earnest intellectual work, the pupil must too often, with his present aids, become aware of absence of comprehension; he is ever and anon brought to stand still and cast about for the unsupplied preliminary facts and truths, for the unhinted hypotheses and inferences, which his situation and previous study do not enable him to supply, but which are necessary to a _comprehension_ of the results set down for him to deal with.

    The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 5, May, 1862 Devoted To Literature And National Policy Various

  • Ms. Sebelius said the label comprehension and actual-use study didn't include data "on all ages for which the drug would be approved and available over-the-counter."

    Obama Health Chief Blocks FDA on 'Morning After' Pill Jennifer Corbett Dooren 2011

  • The label comprehension and actual use studies did not contain data for all ages for which this product would be available for use.

    News - latimes.com By Melanie Mason 2011

  • The label comprehension and actual use studies submitted to FDA do not include data on all ages for which the drug would be approved and available over-the-counter.

    Forbes.com: News Nigam Arora 2011

  • I think the term comprehension still has great relevance because it is a reminder that as readers, viewers and web surfers we need to be able to understand, interpret, appreciate and critique what we read, view, hear and even …

    Literacy News – 162th Edition « News « Literacy News 2009

  • Studies tracking the label comprehension for Plan B show poor awareness that Plan B is not a substitute for standard contraceptives.

    Health News from Medical News Today 2009

  • Again, such cases seem to tell us that word comprehension is confined to the left hemisphere and that the spared right hemisphere must be word-deaf, as well as word-blind.

    Roger W. Sperry - Nobel Lecture 1981

  • "FDA officials understood these safety concerns in 2006 and were not convinced that the label comprehension data for teens demonstrated that they could use Plan B safely.

    Health News from Medical News Today 2009

  • "FDA officials understood these safety concerns in 2006 and were not convinced that the label comprehension data for teens demonstrated that they could use Plan B safely.

    The Earth Times Online Newspaper 2009

  • In addition to speaking and listening skills in English, therefore, reading comprehension is a skill that should also be given emphasis in any Aviation English training syllabus.

    Aviation English – Necessary Language Skills For Aircraft Operators « Esl Articles « Articles « Literacy News 2009

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