Verb

(en verb)

To find out definitely; to discover or establish.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“There the cause of death was soon ascertained ?; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”}}

As soon as we ascertain what the situation is, we can plan how to proceed.

Verb

(lb) To be aware of the meaning of.

:

:

*(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)

*:I understand not what you mean by this.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-14, author= Sam Leith

, volume=189, issue=1, page=37, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Where the profound meets the profane , passage=Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words". It is entwined, in social and linguistic history, with the other sort of swearing: vows and oaths.}}

To believe, based on information.

:

* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)

, title=(The China Governess) , chapter=Foreword citation , passage=‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying. ‘An Alsatia like the ancient one behind the Strand, or the Saffron Hill before the First World War.

To impute meaning, character etc. that is not explicitly stated.

:

:In this sense, the word is usually used in the past participle:

::

*(John Locke) (1632-1705)

*:The most learned interpreters understood the words of sin, and not of Abel.

*

*:Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language, he expressed the important words by an initial, a medial, or a final consonant, and made scratches for all the words between; his clerks, however, understood him very well.

To stand under; to support.

:(Shakespeare)