The understanding of the message is referred to as the

The understanding of the message is referred to as the meaning.

A message has both the structure and the context of the message. 
The context part of the message contains the true meaning of the message. The context of the message tends to be related to specific situations/circumstances and the receiver need to rely on their intuition to decipher this meaning .

He was an adventurer and writer who established a colony near roanoke island, in present day north coralina.