From the JargonFile:
grok [from the novel StrangerInaStrangeLand, by RobertHeinlein, where it is a Martian word meaning literally "to drink" and metaphorically "to be one with" ] The emphatic form is GrokInFullness.
- 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.
- Used of programs, may connote merely sufficient understanding. "Almost all C compilers grok the 'void' type these days."
- False! There's a big difference between a C compiler that sort of more or less understands "void", and one that truly and completely groks it. But "void" is a relatively shallow subject, so it would be more to the point to say, e.g. "Wow, their C++ compiler groks the ISO standard on templates!"
The current internet usage (July 2000) of to grok seems to me to be:
- to understand, and assimilate successfully (for a human)
- to accept and process successfully (for a program)
-- RogerBrowne