understood

American  

[uhn-der-stood] / ˌʌn dərˈstʊd /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of understand.

---

adjective

1. agreed upon; known in advance; assented to.

   It is the understood policy of this establishment to limit credit.

2. implied but not stated; left unexpressed.

   The understood meaning of a danger sign is “Do not approach.”

understood British  

/ ˌʌndəˈstʊd /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of understand

---

adjective

1. implied or inferred

2. taken for granted; assumed

Other Word Forms

• half-understood adjective
• nonunderstood adjective
• self-understood adjective
• well-understood adjective

Etymology

Origin of understood

First recorded in 1600–10, for the adjective

Example Sentences

The audience understood, viscerally, what could be asked of their countries—and that the pressure wasn’t one-sided.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

John Sykes from the Rock Hall says in the doc, Billy, that you always understood the importance of the visual.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

I understood, in theory, the importance of a good knife.

From Salon • Apr. 21, 2026

"Carbon and hydrogen are among the most abundant elements in planetary materials, yet their combined behavior at giant-planet conditions remains far from fully understood," Liu concluded.

From Science Daily • Apr. 21, 2026

But I, as a fellow invisible person, had always understood that people went there to be alone.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows