comprehension
n.-
1 understanding (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatethe ability to understand something completely.
the capacity for understanding fully; the act or state of grasping the meaning, nature, or importance of something.
ExampleThe complex instructions were completely beyond my comprehension.
ExampleThe sheer scale of the environmental disaster was beyond the comprehension of the local authorities, who struggled to coordinate an effective response.
- incomprehension
- ignorance
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2 educational exercise (n.) B1 Intermediate Educationa test or exercise that measures how well you understand a piece of writing or speech.
an exercise or assessment designed to measure a student's understanding of a written or spoken text.
ExampleFor homework, please read the story and answer the comprehension questions.
ExampleThe advanced listening comprehension exam required students to identify subtle nuances in the speakers' tones and regional accents.
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3 programming syntax (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Computinga short way to create a list or collection in some computer languages.
a syntactic construct available in some programming languages for creating a collection based on existing collections.
ExampleUsing a list comprehension makes your Python code much shorter and easier to read.
ExampleThe developer refactored the nested loops into a single list comprehension to improve the readability and performance of the data processing script.
UsageCommonly used in the phrase 'list comprehension'.
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4 logic/philosophy (n.) C2 Proficiency Academic Formalthe set of qualities or characteristics that define a concept.
the sum of the attributes or characters that comprise a concept; the intension of a term.
ExampleIn logic, increasing the comprehension of a term usually decreases its extension.
ExampleThe philosopher argued that the comprehension of the term 'justice' had shifted significantly across different historical epochs.
- intension
- connotation
Borrowed from Middle French compréhension, from Latin comprehensiō (“taking together”), from com- (“with, together”) + prehendō (“take”).