Comprehend
Part of speech: verb
Definition: to cover, include, or contain to understand or grasp fully and thoroughly.
Example sentence: From time immemorial, man has desired to comprehend the complexity of nature in terms of as few elementary concepts as possible.
Perceive
Part of speech: verb
Definition: To see, to be aware of, to understand.
Example sentence: I'm a private person. People just see me as the bad boy, and if that's how they want to perceive me, then so be it - but they don't know who I am.