Definition: comprehend

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

comprehend
     v 1: get the meaning of something; "Do you comprehend the meaning
          of this letter?" [syn: get the picture, savvy, dig,
           grasp, compass, apprehend]
     2: to become aware of through the senses; "I could perceive the
        ship coming over the horizon" [syn: perceive]
     3: include in scope; include as part of something broader; have
        as one's sphere or territory; "This group encompasses a
        wide range of people from different backgrounds"; "this
        should cover everyone in the group" [syn: embrace, encompass,
         cover]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Comprehend \Com`pre*hend"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Comprehended;
   p. pr. & vb. n. Comprehending.] [L. comprehendere,
   comprehensum; com- + prehendere to grasp, seize; prae before
   + hendere (used only in comp.). See Get, and cf.
   Comprise.]
   1. To contain; to embrace; to include; as, the states
      comprehended in the Austrian Empire.

            Who hath . . . comprehended the dust of the earth in
            a measure.                            --Is. xl. 12.

   2. To take in or include by construction or implication; to
      comprise; to imply.

            Comprehended all in this one word, Discretion.
                                                  --Hobbes.

            And if there be any other commandment, it is briefly
            comprehended in this saying.          --Rom. xiii.
                                                  9.

   3. To take into the mind; to grasp with the understanding; to
      apprehend the meaning of; to understand.

            At a loss to comprehend the question. --W. Irwing.

            Great things doeth he, which we can not comprehend.
                                                  --Job. xxxvii.
                                                  5.

   Syn: To contain; include; embrace; comprise; inclose; grasp;
        embody; involve; imply; apprehend; imagine; conceive;
        understand. See Apprehend.