From section 7.3.4.2 of the c++11 standard: A using-directive specifies that the names in the nominated namespace can be used in the scope in which the using-directive appears after the using-directive. During unqualified name lookup (3.4.1), the names appear as if they were declared in the nearest enclosing namespace which contains both the using-directive and the nominated namespace. [ Note: In this context, “contains” means “contains directly or indirectly”. —end note ] What do the second and third sentences mean exactly? Please give example. Here is the code I am attempting to understand: namespace A { int i = 7; } namespace B { using namespace A; int i = i + 11; } int main(int argc, char * argv[]) { std::cout << A::i << " " << B::i << std::endl; return 0; } It print "7 7" and not "7 18" as I would expect. Sorry for the typo, the program actually prints "7 11".