forstand

Pronunciation: /fə(ɹ)ˈstænd/

The English word “forstand” has 2 meanings listed here.

verb

To stand against; stand in front of so as to bar the way; block; oppose; withstand.
To understand; comprehend.

Etymology

From Middle English forstanden, from Old English forstandan (“to defend, help, protect, withstand, prevent, hinder, resist, oppose, benefit, avail, understand, signify, be equal to”), from Proto-West Germanic *frastandan (“to understand, oppose”), equivalent to for- + stand. Cognate with West Frisian ferstean (“to understand”), Saterland Frisian ferstounde (“to understand”), Dutch verstaan (“to…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.