grok

English

Etymology

Coinedby American author and aeronautical engineerRobert A. Heinleinin 1961 in his novelStranger in a Strange Land.Heinlein invented the word for his fictitious Martian language. It is described as meaning “to drink” and, figuratively, “to drink in all available aspects of reality”, “to become one with the observed”.William Tennlater asked Heinlein if it could have been inspired by the termgriggo,which featured in Tenn's 1949Venus and the Seven Sexes;Heinlein “looked startled, then thought about it for a long time (and) shrugged, (saying) ‘It's possible, very possible.’”

Pronunciation

• (UK)IPA^(key):/ˈɡɹɒk/
• (US)IPA^(key):/ˈɡɹɑk/

• Audio(General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɒk

Verb

grok(third-person singular simple presentgroks,present participlegrokkingorgroking,simple past and past participlegrokkedorgroked)

1. (transitive,slang)Tounderstand(something)intuitively,toknow(something) without having tothinkintellectually.

   Troponym:subitize

   • 1961,Robert A. Heinlein,Stranger in a Strange Land,New York: Avon,→OCLC,page106:

     I do notgrokall fullness of what I read. In the history written by Master William Shakespeare I found myself full of happiness at the death of Romeo. Then I read on and learned that he had discorporated too soon – or so I thought Igrokked.Why?

   • 1968,Tom Wolfe,The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test,→ISBN:

     Grok―and then it's clear, without anybody having to say it.

   • [2008December, Leslie Anthony, “Running from Babylon”, inSkiing,volume61,number 4, page116:

     He freely plucks notions and verbiage from science fiction to describe everything from mountain-related undertakings to political subterfuge – like "grok",a term from Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, to denote intuitive understanding.]

   • 2018August 2,Kara Swisher,“The Expensive Education of Mark Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley”, inNew York Times‎^[1]:

     Because what he never managed togrokthen was that the company he created was destined to become a template for all of humanity, the digital reflection of masses of people across the globe. Including — and especially — the bad ones.

2. (transitive,slang)To fully and completely understand something in all of its details and intricacies.

   I finallygrokPerl.

   I find it exceedingly doubtful that any persongroksquantum mechanics.

   • 2008August, Stanley Bing, “New Help for Hodads”, inFortune,volume158,number 3, page152:

     Today we take a few moments to help yougroksome of the ways that victims of TU can up their hipness – if we may use that term without being considered old school.

Usage notes

Grokis used mainly by thegeeksubculture,though it was heavily used by thecountercultureof the 1960s, as evidenced by its repeated appearance in Tom Wolfe's “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.”

Descendants

• →French:gnoquer
• →Italian:groccare
• →Russian:гро́кать(grókatʹ)
• →Russian:гро́кнуть(gróknutʹ)
• →Slovene:gročiti
• →Turkish:groklamak

Translations

to have an intuitive understanding

• French:piger(fr),capter(fr),gnoquer(fr)
• German:schnallen(de),kapieren(de),raffen(de)
• Italian:groccare
• Russian:гро́катьimpf(grókatʹ),гро́кнуть(ru)pf(gróknutʹ),въезжать(ru)impf(vʺjezžatʹ)(slang)
• Slovene:gročiti(sl)
• Spanish:entender(es)
• Turkish:çakmak(tr)

to fully understand

• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Tinh thông(zh)(jīngtōng)

• Esperanto:povoscii
• French:capter(fr),piger(fr)
• German:begreifen(de),verstehen(de)
• Italian:groccare
• Russian:гро́катьimpf(grókatʹ),гро́кнуть(ru)pf(gróknutʹ),шарить(ru)impf(šaritʹ)(slang)
• Serbo-Croatian:proniknuti(sh)
• Slovene:gročiti(sl)
• Spanish:pilotar(es)
• Turkish:anlamak(tr),kavramak(tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Japanese:^{(pleaseverify)}Phân かり thiết る(wakarikiru)

Further reading

• grokon Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Heinlein Society

Anagrams

• gork