different between suppose vs understand

English

Etymology

From Middle English supposen, borrowed from Old French supposer, equivalent to prefix sub- (“under”) + poser (“to place”); corresponding in meaning to Latin supponere (“to put under, to substitute, falsify, counterfeit”), suppositum. See pose.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /s??p??z/, [s??p???z]
• (US) IPA^(key): /s??po?z/, [s??p?o?z]

• (syncope, contraction)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /?sp??z/, [?sp??z]
  • (US) IPA^(key): /?spo?z/, [?spo?z]
• Rhymes: -??z

Verb

suppose (third-person singular simple present supposes, present participle supposing, simple past and past participle supposed)

1. (transitive) To take for granted; to conclude, with less than absolute supporting data; to believe.
2. (transitive) To theorize or hypothesize.
3. (transitive) To imagine; to believe; to receive as true.
   • Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead.
4. (transitive) To require to exist or to be true; to imply by the laws of thought or of nature.

   Purpose supposes foresight.

   • 1752, Charlotte Lennox, The Female Quixote

     One falsehood always supposes another, and renders all you can say suspected.

5. (transitive) To put by fraud in the place of another.

Synonyms

• assume (1,2)
• See also Thesaurus:suppose

Derived terms

• supposable
• supposed to (idiom)
• supposedly

Descendants

• Chinese Pidgin English: supposey

Translations

French

Verb

suppose

1. first-person singular present indicative of supposer
2. third-person singular present indicative of supposer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of supposer
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of supposer
5. second-person singular imperative of supposer

Italian

Verb

suppose

1. third-person singular past historic of supporre

English

Alternative forms

• understaund (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English understanden, from Old English understandan (“to understand”), from Proto-Germanic *under (“between”) + *standan? (“to stand”), equivalent to Old English under- (“between, inter-”) + standan (“to stand”). Cognate with Old Frisian understonda (“to understand, experience, learn”), Old High German understantan (“to understand”), Middle Danish understande (“to understand”). Compare also Saterland Frisian understunda, unnerstounde (“to dare, survey, measure”), Dutch onderstaan (“to undertake, presume”), German unterstehen (“to be subordinate”). More at inter-, stand.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ?n(?)d?r-st?nd', IPA^(key): /(?)?nd??stænd/,
• (General American) enPR: ?n?d?r-st?nd', IPA^(key): /??nd??stænd/, [??????stænd], [??????ste??nd]
• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /??nd???stand/
• Rhymes: -ænd
• Hyphenation: un?der?stand

Verb

understand (third-person singular simple present understands, present participle understanding, simple past and past participle understood)

1. (transitive) To grasp a concept fully and thoroughly, especially (of words, statements, art, etc.) to be aware of the meaning of and (of people) to be aware of the intent of.
   • 1991, Stephen Fry, The Liar, p. 20:

     ‘I came back here, had a wank and finished that book.’
     ‘The Naked Lunch?’
     ‘Yeah.’
     ‘What did you reckon?’
     ‘Crap.’
     ‘You're just saying that because you didn't understand it,’ said Adrian.
     ‘I'm just saying that because I did understand it,’ said Tom. ‘Any road up, we'd better start making some toast.’

2. To believe, to think one grasps sufficiently despite potentially incomplete knowledge.

3. (humorous, rare, obsolete outside circus, acrobatics) To stand underneath, to support.

Usage notes

• In its sense of "imputing meaning", use is usually limited to the past participle understood.
• The obsolete perfect form understanded is occasionally found, e.g. in the Book of Common Prayer and the 39 Articles of the Anglican Church.

Synonyms

• (to fully grasp a concept): apprehend, comprehend, grasp, know, perceive, pick up what someone is putting down, realise, grok
• (to believe one grasps a concept): believe

Antonyms

• misunderstand

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• explain
• why

Further reading

• understand in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• understand in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• unstranded