How does a CPU 'know' what commands and instructions actually mean?

When a computer interprets assembly level instructions, these instructions are turned into their binary equivalents for the CPU to read. When the CPU executes the instructions, it interprets the opcode part of the instruction into individual "microprograms", containing their microcode equivalents. Just so you know, a full assembly instruction consists of an opcode and any applicable data that goes with it, if required (e.g. register names, memory addresses). Microcode instructions are extremely…