I Don’t Understand The Word Understand 

Suggest a topic for next Monday's Name Explain video!

Unter (German for under) is used to mean "among" like "unter uns" is "among us". The Old English had this same meaning from German, so what you know is "standing among" your thoughts.

But what's really interesting is the word "comprehend", which roughly means "seize together", or in more common terms, "grasp", which is precisely the Germanic English word you used to define "understand". See also "fathom", literally to encircle (someone or eomething) with outstretched arms, figuratively to understand.

It seems like saying "I understand" started as meaning "I empathize": I can put myself/have been in that situation before and know how it feels - I'm putting myself under the weight of that raincloud with you to help you not feel alone in what you're experiencing. Then it evolved more generally, as in "I think we are thinking the same thing."

I for one beneathupright this video!

I think the key to this "togetherness" implied by both comprehend and understand is that if you truly understand something, you can explain it to someone else.

I just had an “aha” moment when you used the word “underneath.” You mentioned that “under” used to mean “among.” That combined with the word “underneath” made me think of the word “beneath,” which is currently a synonym with “under,” but I’m sure it hasn’t always been that way. So logically, that means that “neath” used to mean the current concept of “under.” So “underneath” means “among the bottom,” since “under” means “among” and “neath” means “at the bottom.”

I'd always heard it as meaning that the thing you were inside or among was _the thing you're trying to comprehend._ Like, you're seeing it from within, gaining a deeper understanding.

🎶 Understand, understand, Understand, understand, Understand, understand the concept of love

In German it's similar. Verstehen has stehen (to stand) and the prefix ver- which means either to overdo something or the process of doing something. For example ändern= change (directly) verändern= change (via a process) schießen= shoot, verschießen= overshoot/shoot past. This means comprehend in German is either the process of standing or overstanding/standing too much.

I think I grok the concept. Thanks, Patrick.

Throwing in 5 bucks to pitch the idea of dark mode videos. ie black backgrounds for animation and text. I don't know about others, but I watch educational videos for when I chill before going to bed, so my room is dark. So when any video goes from the mixed brightness of camera video to a 90% white screen, I turn into the burning eyes meme

In Polish, to understand/comprehend is "rozumieć". It comes from roz- (un-/dis-) + umieć (to be able to do something). So rozumieć literally means "to be unable to do something" which makes no sense. From what I googled every Slavic language uses a cognate of rozumieć to mean "to understand" except Russian where it is archaic/poetic there.

Because your knowledge forms the foundation for your comprehension to stand.

Not me foolishly thinking it came litterally from the stand under the letter cases of print shops "supporting the letters" as you will. The understand.

If to "comprehend" is to hold things together, then the word is not about other people sharing an understanding but about parts standing together to make sense. And to stand is not about people standing somewhere but also about things being somewhere. In German, words "stand" written on the page. So in the end, "understanding" is the act of putting things together. Unsurprisingly, English also uses "gather" in a similar sense: "I gathered that much".

It’s like saying “I’m with you” when you understand what a person is saying to you.

To stand among = to agree = to stand with = understand.

I like how both you and Technology Connections put outtakes at the end.

This interpretation I made up makes more sense to me: Understand, to stand among, means thag your mind is firmly rooted, standing, in the middle of the concept, among it. Comprehend, to grasp together, it means that you took the concepts necessary and took them all at once with a single hand and they all make sense. Apparently, these metaphors lead to the idea of multiple concepts and idea coming together

You can understand or comprehend by yourself because they both mean you stand together with the group who "get it". If you are the only one who gets it then the "group" has one member but you are still part of the "group".

I stand under a new paradigm of knowledge after watching this.

I'd love to see a brief video on the etymologies of "traitor" and "translator". They're more closely related than you might think!

Few month ago when I tried to fall asleep I just realized that the German verstehen and the Norwegian forstå also contain the word for stand (stehen and stå) As I understood after 2 years of learning norwegian on Duolingo for- has a meaning of make something. For instance bedre - better -> å forbedre - improve, make something better, lenge - long, å forlenge - extend, ny - new, å fornye - renew

Yet, when I "stand under" something, it's actually "over my head"! :)

I learned in my freshman year of high school that about the "Understanders", or Groundlings of Shakespearean theater, so I have a theory that this word was somehow related to this double meaning. The Groundlings stood on the ground to watch the theater, so they were literally standing under it, as well as being an important part to actually "understand" the play.

Under these circumstances, I'm finally getting to understand some of "understand".

The ending of this video is top-notch!

"Under" meaning being among a group also would explain the expression "Come to an understanding" to mean agreement.

I’ve wondered this for years!

understand is more "to stand among the facts" than with other people.

Something I don't understand - when you don't understand or were confused by something someone said, you ask them to repeat it by apologizing to them. "I'm sorry?" "Pardon?" "Excuse me?"

Understand has had its general meaning for about 1000 years. Old English had several words with similar meanings to understand including "understandan" the ancestor meaning to comprehend, to accept as correct, to notice, which almost entirely absent in most northern manuscripts "forstandan" to understand, to defend, very rare "ongietan" more common in the north to comprehend, to perceive understandan became understand forstandan became forstand (rare) and ongietan didn't survive but would've become "onget" or something akin

I figured it came from standing under someone's banner in medieval and ancient warfare. It's better than coming from a misspelling of "nuderstand" which might have meant "made bare for all to see".

When you "stand among" information, you have the same thing happen as "standing among" a group of people, like a foreign civilization. You see things from that viewpoint and begin to comprehend them or the information in question. This also illustrates how you can understand without actually comprehending, and comprehend without really understanding. You can stand among a group for a long time and still find them and their behavior baffling, yet still get to the point where the interactions become almost intuitive. Quantum Physics is a perfect example this. If you think you understand it, you don't. But, the bizarre world of the human psyche means that you can comprehend QP, ESPECIALLY when you come to terms with the randomness that prevents understanding.

I'm note sure about "standing among other people", I think it might be simpler than that. If you are close to something or among things you have a better understanding of them than those who are not. I understand you = I have similar thoughts or experiences. You understand the topic = it's a topic you have a personal connection with. I think it's plausible it meant that at some point and to a degree it still does

In Swedish, the word for understand is similiar. The Swedish word for understand is förstå, which constists of för and stå. För is the same as the English for, and stå is the same as English stand, so a literal translition of the Swedish for förstå is forstand.

Knowing that "under" originally meant something more like "between" or "among" makes me think that the change in definitions might have just been a complete accident. My guess is that it started being used to describe something beneath a stack of wood, maybe even a collapsed building, or just a pile of clothes, and someone would say "Look under (somewhere around) those."

I always confused "to spell" and "to pronounce" because in my mind a magic 'spell' is something that only works when it is spoken and not when it is written.

It was once explained to me that understand does not actually mean the same as comprehend. To comprehend something is to have some grasp of a concept, whereas to understand is to stand under a concept. Specifically, say a judge asks you if you understand a ruling, he isn't asking you if you comprehend it, he's asking if you stand under the terms of the ruling. In other words if you understand something you agree to it and agree to be subject to it whether or not you comprehend it.

my gut reaction was that "getting to the bottom" might have something to do with "standing under", i guess it came later

Someone said something to me in the band room. I picked up a music stand, raise it over my head and replied, "I understand". Jokes aside, if the word "understand" meant "to be among those who have a certain knowledge", then there might be a separate word for the individual, relating to perhaps "recognition" or "insight". Either this, or the "among" could be more metaphorical, such as the old usage of the word "Deutch" meant "clear speech", so in a similar vein, this could be "to recognize reason" or "to have intelligence", thus "to be among those that recognize reason/have intelligence"? I'm just guessing.

The German "verstehen" orignially meant "to stand in front of" - in the sense of "closely examine", which helps with understanding.

Maybe, "understand" is not to stand amongst others who understand, but to stand (maybe metaphorically) amongst the things you understand, (e.g. if you stand amongst rocks long enough and study them, you begin to understand them).

So to understand is to stand among those who get it.

"Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty, Little Ball of Fur. Happy Algorithm, Sleepy Kitty, Purr Purr Purr".

I beneath upright this perfectly.

In German for "understand" is "verstehen" with "ver" is a common prefix and "stehen" ist "stand". German, too, has a literal translation of "understand". Its "unterstehen". But that has nothing to do with "understand". When somebody "untersteht" themself, they don't do something. That word is not commenly used but if it is used, mostly in the sentence: "Untersteh dich", which can be translated as "Restrain yourself".

In Azerbaijani, understand is başa düşmək, which literally means “to fall on head”. Baş=head, düş=fall, come down, mək=to.

"under" used to mean 'among', so more like 'with' the group. So I can 'withstand' learning things now...

I would like to know why so many inquisitive words in English start with "Wh" like Who? What? Why? Where? and When?

Well, I think that the word's roots look like they are referring to learning, coming into the fold, standing with. And therefore invention, understanding something new, may have occupied a different branch previously, before the concepts merged. Type thing?

It doesn't have to be the masses that understand it, as "together" could just be the speaker and the listener.

Good to see you over sat this subject lol 😂

Swedish "förstå" seems to come from "för" (intensifier) and "stå" (stand). But "för" could also be understood as 'before'.

Topic for next week: polite sayings, for example, thank you, excuse me...

I have a theory thats its just an arbitrary but common feeling that understand just sounds like understanding. imagine if we went about saying " do you comprehend?" in english that might come off a bit rude or aggressive. i think a harsh letters like k t D q x z make a words tone harsher. hence they show up in (curses) ass(z), fuck(k) Damn (d) so using a softer letter like un might just make that word choice feel more appropriate more often. idk but i always use comprehend in the 1st person talking about my comprehension or a theoretical comprehension like defining a characters situation in a story. its very academic- so id intuitively put it in professional/focused settings.

0:00 I assume because when you stand under a bridge or tree you get a better view.

In Finnish it is ymmärtää which means about to surround or to circle. You see the thing from all sides.

In German unter is sometimes used to mean among. Among, in turn, comes from OE mong (group), related to German Menge (a crowd) and to English many.

In fact, if I do not comprehend a concept, it is over my head. I.E. I am standing under it. So understand would actually make more sense to mean to not comprehend. English is a silly language.

I understood your explanation 😉🖖 And comprehend is our Dutch "begrijpen" where the "be" part is a kind of "to" and grijpen means "gripping" so to be able to, or are gripping something, begrijp je?

Thanks for clearing that up...[CLEAR AS MUD]!?!😊 So how about this possible explanation as to how saying one thing in this case means something else. Perhaps " under~stand " originally meant.. to subjugate oneself.. pledge loyalty & obedience to..accept the authority of your Master or your betters. If that was the original meaning the Boss, Master, Teacher, Guru, Lord , Captain, or other Great PooBa demanded " understanding " from the peon,serf, underling ,lucky, servant ,student, minions ect... So according to my theory when a teacher asks a student "do you understand " the original meaning of the phrase is "am I your Master ? ". The meaning has shifted over the centuries to " do you comprehend?". Anyhow that's how I see it.

I disagree. I think "Understand = Comprehend" is a corruption. "Stand" in this case was more likely related to "support" like a "TV Stand" or "Speaker Stand" and "I Understand" was more of a way of saying "I support your (idea, concept, etc.)" - nothing to do with being upright or in a group. At some point "I Understand" (subjective) weaseled its way in as a replacement for "I Comprehend" (objective), similar to how almost everyone is saying "Across the World" instead of "Around the World"

To submit to the one who is upright. To place yourself underneath one who stands, and submit to their knowledge not your own. It's pretty simple, actually, but for modern people, they have no context to that idea. I mean, when you're being taught, you're sitting while the teacher stands. You're underneath them while they stand.

If he doesn't comprehend something, a Dutchman can say: "dat gaat me boven mijn pet" = it goes above my cap, i.e. it is too high above me in order to grasp it. Then I am standing under it, which would be the opposite of understand, stand you under me? 😄 By the way, Dutch "onder" means both "under" and "among".

Suggestion: Words that mean two things that are opposites such as "Cleave" which can mean to join or separate depending on context.

Topic: Why are social medias called what they're called like WhatsApp, Facebook, Discord, RU-vid and all the others?

it's interesting that it appears to be unrelated to substance (literally: what stands beneath). In philosophy and theology this is often taken in a spiritual or non-physical sense, so I've long thought "understanding" was kind of cognate with that - you understand x if x has substance in your mind. It's a plausible origin, and it means pretty much exactly what it normally does! Unfortunately, history and etymology isn't on my side 😅

It does sound a little better if you say " I have an understanding" of something. Maybe we are using it slightly differently in a sentence than it was originally intended. Just a guess.

In Swedish it's "förstå"., so "fore/for + stand"

To stand under. In a military or even civilian working for someone. Understand would be to comprehend.

There is a theory in philosophy that community consensus is what makes things effectively true or false. Most of the things you know are things you learned from other people, and people tend to assume that "everybody says that" means it must be true. Science says that data is truth, but still relies on community consensus to interpret data often. Not to be political, but the reason the far right sometimes seems like they live in their own reality is probably because they only trust community consensus and there is a disconnect between that community and the rest of the country.

Something like “wellhold” would make more sense

In my native language Twi, understand is 'te ase' which means under sit. So understand is not that weird.

So if someone gives you too much information, do you OVERSTAND things?

The enlightened crowd like to say overstand.

Same happens with spanish "entender"... en- (inside, into) tender (to hang up and stretch)... what?...

How about the word "superior" Hint, it has nothing to do with "better" Also "inferior" for a good pair of words that:- "You keep using that word, I do not think that word means what you think it means" Montoya

Soooo, underwater is the same case as understand? Because, how can you be under the water if you are in the water.

The origin of the Hebrew words of corn, Greece, Yemen, France, Spain, and India (all from the bible)

That means the more recent use of "overstand" makes no sense at all.

In America, when a cop pulls you over, does whatever, then hands you a ticket, while explaining about it. Finally saying "do you understand... What I just said?" Or similar. The cop is not asking if you comprehend. That question is really asking if you "stand under" his\her " authority", and the governmental agency they represent. It's part of the laws of "consent". By word or contract, inalienable rights are replaced with privileges that can be taken away...

Obviously it's the negation of the word "derstand"/s

And after this, maybe watch The Understanding from The Amazing World of Gumball

I amongstand. I am standing among. I am a standing mong.

German: verstehen, stehen = English: stand similar words in German: Verständnis, Verständigung, Verstand

I was told under is related to inter and intra. In the manner of being under the belief of something. Or how do you stand on this.

❤😊❤😊❤😊❤

I overstand. And now I want sardines.

This video is... Outstanding!

I overstand tings

My word, Patrick have you been on holiday? or is it just the light making me think you have a tan XD Also very interesting video :)

👍

I think I amongstand.

Does the word "Angel" associated with the word "English" with the word "English" coming from "Angles"? Or is that just coincidence?

Vsauce already explained this I think.

I _capiche_ !

Forstand

Wait, I don't get it. :P :P XD