Grok

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈɡɹɒk/

Definitions

1. To deeply understand something intuitively and completely, often through direct experience or absorption rather than through conscious analysis
2. To thoroughly comprehend a concept or situation on an instinctual level, embracing it fully through personal involvement rather than analytical thought
3. Understanding something profoundly and intuitively, often resulting from a personal connection and immersion rather than merely cognitive reasoning

Etymology: Robert A. Heinlein coined "grok" out of nothing in his 1961 novel "Stranger in a Strange Land," inventing it for the fictional Martian language his hero learns. In the Martian sense it means "to drink," and figuratively "to drink in all available aspects of reality" or "to become one with the observed." Heinlein gave the word no pedigree; it was a deliberate invention, and its success came from the novel's popularity rather than from any gradual drift through speech. The science fiction writer William Tenn later asked Heinlein whether he might have been inspired by "griggo," a term in Tenn's story "Venus and the Seven Sexes" (1949). Heinlein looked startled, thought about it for a long time, and then shrugged, saying, "It's possible, very possible." The question remains open, and Heinlein never settled it.

Synonyms: understand, comprehend, grasp

Antonyms: misunderstand, overlook