grok

grok /grok/, var. /grohk/ vt.  [from the novel
   "Stranger in a Strange Land", by Robert A. Heinlein, where it
   is a Martian word meaning literally `to drink' and metaphorically
   `to be one with'] The emphatic form is `grok in
   fullness'. 1. To understand, usually in a global sense.  Connotes
   intimate and exhaustive knowledge.  Contrast {zen}, which is
   similar supernal understanding experienced as a single brief flash.
   See also {glark}.  2. Used of programs, may connote merely
   sufficient understanding.  "Almost all C compilers grok the
   `void' type these days."