Etymograph

English

understand

Understand comes from Old English understandan ‘to understand’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *understandaną.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*understandaną1‘to stand between’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*understandan1‘to stand between’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150understandan1‘to understand’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500understanden1
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591understand1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English understand
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “LAUNE: Ay, and what I do too: look thee,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*understandanąWiktionary, English understand‘to stand between’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*understandanWiktionary, English understand‘to stand between’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150understandanWiktionary, English understand‘to understand’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500understandenWiktionary, English understand
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1591understandWiktionary, English understand. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1591, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona: “LAUNE: Ay, and what I do too: look thee,…”

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *understandaną

Today it means

verb To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “understand”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *understandaną / understand

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