"... and it has been so since Old English. Likewise the sense has not shifted since King Alfred's day: 'to comprehend, grasp the idea of, receive from a word or words or from a sign the idea it is intended to convey; to view in a certain way.'
But what does 'standing beneath' have to do with any of that?... One guess about the compound is that the notion is less 'standing under' and more 'standing in the midst of' (truth, facts, meaning, etc.). .. [T]he enemy-word of understanding,
superstition: Latin
superstitio 'dread of the supernatural, religious belief based on fear or ignorance and considered incompatible with truth or reason.' It is literally 'a standing over," from
superstare 'stand on or over.'"
Standing over expressed dominance, but superstition seems more like something outside of you is looming over you and intimidating you, so it's hard to... understand... how the concrete idea of standing figures into this meaning. Literally, standing under something — unless it's a structure like a bridge — is hard even to picture.
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"In form it is a compound of under + stand (v.)..."
If those are considered a compound, what is one to make of "pigeon"?
why take it to mean a person standing under X
why not you stand X under yourself
you stand over X by standing X under
in German it is verstehen not unterstehen
Etymology deployed in the service of modern progressive world view. Anyone familiar with ancient Western or Eastern epistemology would recognize that their deepest thinkers did not perceive the contradiction between "superstitio" and understanding that modern materialism does.
The truth (e.g., of suffering) may be considered from both the point of view of we who are "down below" and from those who have attained a higher view.
stele stanchion stay oust stature statute stasis substance status prest subsist extant station stanza state constant persist interstice obstacle superstition exist stand stapes stator desist distant testament destine steer contrast instant stand assist stable obstinate insist stay circumstance stamen resist rest solstice stanch stance stet estancia consist cost stage statant
all from L sto stare stavi status
“Understanding” means to stand on true ground; where your footing is stable; terrain where your purchase is firm.
Don’t be too mechanical here, looking for an overly reductive logic.
steti not stavi google says. My memory vs theirs.
I’m under the impression that the concepts are best understood as within and without, such that one is standing within knowledge or outside of knowledge. Understanding can only occur within a state of knowledge and facts while superstition stands apart from and claims to be superior to facts and knowledge. So much superstition exists within gnostic types who claim secret knowledge, things that cannot be confirmed with facts.
I'm not sure what an "enemy-word" is, but I hope this author didn't mean "opposite". I don't think "superstition" is the opposite of "understanding"....some word like ignorance or incomprehension would come closer.
I'd be more interested in finding out who invented the phrase "enemy-word." It sounds politically loaded. I.e., by identifying the "enemy-word" of understanding as
superstition, he is saying "understanding must be rational; its enemy is irrationality." But understanding can include comprehension that is not the result of deductive or inductive reasoning.
As long as even the experts are guessing as to its origins, might under + stand signify a (figurative) foundation? Try that meaning out while you think about a phrase like “We have an understanding.”
Just a speculation, but one significant change by Alfred was to establish chains of forts (I forget what they were called) to oppose the Vikings. Additionally, Alfred created the Fyrd, or militia, of the local population. In previous eras battles were fought by the werod, or house guards with the populace victimized by both sides. To stand is to remain fixed. It took awhile to get the farmers to "stand" their ground in the face of all the superstitions and stories of Viking hordes. So perhaps "under stand" came to be when the Fyrd stood their ground, which also led to successes in stopping Viking raids.
It stands as it were to the ground yglued.
--Chaucer.
Just a speculation.
I left out the part where one of the best ways to get the fearful to stand their ground is to well to have them come to "understand" the truth, and strip away the superstitions, tall tales, lies and "fake news".
This doesn't make sense. Someone had a dead-line, and put words on a piece of paper.
Understand comes from the German verstehen. How could anyone suggest an etymology without reference to the ursprache?
In German, the prefix ver- usually emphasizes the action of the verb. For example in English, fast compared to very fast.
Now I think we should label CRT as a superstitious belief, rather than a neo-religion. (Quasi? pseudo? faux? semi-? godless?)
Only the superstitious Left really believe in CRT crap - but most want to look like believe in pure virtue signaling theatre.
Under the flag of Truth, I
Stand.
Not superstition.
That's why you take something under advisement before you under stand it
"Literally, standing under something — unless it's a structure like a bridge — is hard even to picture."
Get out under dark, expansive night skies. Half the universe is over your head.
It's an awesome understanding.
Original Mike said...
Get out under dark, expansive night skies. Half the universe is over your head.
Are you Seriously saying that you understand the heavens? Or at least, the Sky??
Personally,
I've looked at Clouds from both sides now; and i I really don't know clouds at all
That moment when you begin to understand that the meaning of a compound word does not always derive from the literal meaning of its component words.
It could be worse — you could make up words like “herstory” and expect not to be treated as an idiot.
Are “underwriters” different from “subscribers”?
Get out under dark, expansive night skies. Half the universe is over your head.
And half the universe is standing under your feet -- one hell of an understanding.
"Overlook" as a verb sometimes means to miss something, and it can mean to disregard (see it but not act on it). To oversee something is in a way to see it all, take responsibility for it. Maybe "supervise" is more or less an exact synonym. To look down upon is something else again.
Under and Under- are two different words with separate origins that have been conflated over time. Under is a solitary word having the meaning we know today.
"Under-" is a prefix deriving from the Sanskrit antar having several meanings generally meaning to hold, to grasp, to seize, to be among, betwixt and between, to internalize (esp. in the mind.)
"Stand" is from Old English and German Standan meaning to occupy a place, to congeal, to abide, to exist.
Understand is a compound of Sanskrit and Old Engish/German meaning to grasp and hold an idea or concept in one's mind, to internalize the ramifications of an action, make (attitudes or behavior) part of one's nature by learning or unconscious assimilation.
A street in Shoreditch, London, in the reign of Good King Harry 1536:
Yea, our faire Capital hath sore need of that the Antique Romans didst call a Cloaca. Go under stand yon sickbed window and gain wisdom, friend, if thou dost doubt me.
Yes, I was going to say that "under-" could mean "between" or "among," so that to understand a concept meant to stand between or among its various parts, but I had to get back to my home computer because I forgot my login.
"Under-" is a prefix deriving from the Sanskrit antar having several meanings generally meaning to hold, to grasp, to seize, to be among, betwixt and between, to internalize (esp. in the mind.)
...
Understand is a compound of Sanskrit and Old Engish/German meaning to grasp and hold an idea or concept in one's mind, to internalize the ramifications of an action, make (attitudes or behavior) part of one's nature by learning or unconscious assimilation.
Come now, there are precisely ZERO words from the days of King Alfred that "derive" from Sanskrit.
Anglo-Saxon English, like Modern English, has plenty of cognates with Sanskrit by way of Proto-Indo-European, but all such words are distant cousins, not ancestors and descendants.
"Understand" comes down to us intact from Old English, and before that, Proto-Germanic.
The guy in the circus who hold up the human pryamid is called the understander.
When I attempt to understand something, I frequently try to "get to the bottom of it". Related?
To understand means you are in a mental state of submission to the source of information being transmitted to you. A child is in submission to a teacher or parent. Therefore the mind of the child becomes receptive to the source that is above him.
The student is standing under the teacher, therefore the student is “looking up” to the teacher. This is also called respect. Children do not learn from teachers they don’t respect because they are not beneath the teacher. They have placed themselves above the teacher. Therefore they don’t under-stand.
When anyone is over-standing they do not learn. Therefore their mind becomes full of “superstition” which means to over-stand.
Submission is the key to learning. This is why we get on our knees when we prey. We want to submit to, or understand God.
The Japanese are not smarter than Americans. It’s just that their culture glorifies respect therefore they are naturally going to be more receptive to learning.
American children are not taught respect any longer at home. Therefore their understanding is decreasing.
The flow of information is from above to below. You cannot pour wine into a cup that is above the bottle. Just as you cannot teach someone who thinks they know everything.
You cannot wake the woke because their mind is in a state of superstition, or over-standing.
Learning is referred to as “the sacred feminine” because to be feminine means you are in submission. And submission is the key to understanding.
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