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Your word for today is: learn, v.
learn, v.
Pronunciation:/l3ːn/
Inflections: Pa. tense and pple. learned /l3ːnd/, learnt /l3ːnt/.
Forms:Pa. tense and pple. learned /l3ːnd/, learnt /l3ːnt/. Forms: OE leornian, Northumb. liornia, ME leornen, lornen, ME leornie-n, ME -in, leorny, liernin, lerni(e, ME lernen, ME leorne, lerny, l(e)urne, Kent. lierne, lyerne, lyerni, lyerny, ME leerne, ME–15 lern(e, ME, 15, 18 dial. larn, 15 Sc. leyrne, leirne, 15–16 learne, 15– learn. pa. tenseOE leornode, leornade, ME Orm. lerrnde, ME leornede, ME lernid, leernde, lernd, ME–15 lerned, ME leerned, lurned, lurnet, ME–15 lernyd, 15 Sc. lernit, leirned, lernit, 16– learned, learnt. pa. pple.ME ileornet, ME ilerned, ME, 15 ylerned; from 14th c. onwards as in pa. tense
Etymology:Old English leornian, Northumbrian liornia = Old Frisian lirna, lerna, Old Saxon lînôn (not found in Dutch), Old High German lirnên, lernên, (Middle High German, modern German lernen) < West Germanic *liznêjan, *liznôjan, < *lis-, weak-grade of *lais-, root of Germanic *lairâlore n.1
I. To acquire knowledge. 1.
a. trans. To acquire knowledge of (a subject) or skill in (an art, etc.) as a result of study, experience, or teaching. Const. from, of (arch.), †at (a person). Also, to commit to memory (passages of prose or verse), esp. in phrases to learn by heart, by rote, for which see the ns.
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) iii. xvii. [xxiii.] 232From þæm he þæt emet eleornade reollices þeodscipes.
c975 Rushw. Gosp. Mark xiii. 28From fic-beom ðonne liornie bispell.
c1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 308/26Þam þe lyste þisne cræft leornian.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 55Gif we leornið godes lare!
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 17Ate biginninge of cristendom elch man leornede pater noster and credo.
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 9309To leornenn lare att sannt iohan Off þeȝȝre sawle nede.
a1225 Leg. Kath. 940Þes is al þe lare þat ich nu leorni.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1874) V. 167Þis Julianus in his childehode lerned nygromancie and wicchecraft.
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 58Al that Cristen men and wommen ouȝten leerne, thei mowe leerne out of the Bible.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Nucillus in Panoplie Epist. 238,I woulde have you to understand and learne this lesson.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost xi. 360To learn True patience, and to temper joy with fear.
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor i. i. 21What shall I learn there of God?
1845 M. Patterson Ess. (1889) I. 16The Frank‥learned with implicit belief his faith from the mouth of the Roman priest.
1874 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People iv. §1 162It was from Earl Simon‥that Edward had learned the skill in warfare which distinguished him among the princes of his time.
b. with clause as obj.
c1000 Ælfric Deut. xiv. 23Leorna þæt þu ondræde Drihten on ælc tid.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 73Alle þo þe ne wilen listen lorspel and þeron lernen wiche ben sinnen.
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 4970Lerneþþ att me þatt icc amm wiss. Rihht milde & mec wiþþ herrte.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 233 O, þu þet art cristen, lyerne hou þou sselt louie god.
c1400 Cato's Morals 62 in Cursor M. App. iv. 1670Lerne‥quat werk þou folow salle.
1667 Milton Paradise Lost xii. 561Henceforth I learne, that to obey is best.
1884 F. Temple Relations Relig. & Sci. (1885) vii. 220Scientific men will learn that there are other kinds of knowledge besides scientific knowledge.
c. With inf.; also with how and inf.
c900 tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (1890) iii. xx. [xxviii.] 246Þa ða he in wreotum leornade to donne.
c1175 Lamb. Hom. 117Discite bene facere þet is‥leorniað god to wurchenne.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 675Betere him adde ibe Abbe bileued þed doune þan ilerned vor to fle.
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 10693So hii miȝte lerni traitour to be.
a1400 (1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 7496Þou lernedest neuer to fiȝt.
c1500 Merchant & Son in J. O. Halliwell Nugæ Poeticæ (1844) 23Y wolde lerne of marchandyse to passe ovyr the see!
1549 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Kynges Maiestie 2nd Serm. sig. Dviv,So your grace must learne howe to do of Salomon.
1602 2nd Pt. Returne fr. Parnassus v. i. 1999,I was a gamesome boy and learned to sing.
1729 Bp. J. Butler Serm. in Wks. (1873) II. 47There are times for silence: when they should learn to hear, and be attentive.
1838 H. W. Longfellow Psalm of Life ix,Learn to labour and to wait.
1875 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 32We learn morals, as we learn to talk, instinctively.
d. Phr. I am (yet) to learn: I am ignorant or unaware. Now usually I have (yet) to learn.
2. 1687 G. Miège Great Fr. Dict. ii. s.v.,The truth of it we are as yet to learn, nous n'en savons pas encore la Verité.
1726 J. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Archit. I. 82,I am not to learn [It. Ne mi è nascoso] that some‥are of opinion that very high Walls are dangerous.
1789 C. Smith Ethelinde I. 91Whence he came‥Sir Edward was yet to learn.
a. intr. To acquire knowledge of a subject or matter; to receive instruction. Const. as in sense 1.
971 Blickl. Hom. 13Leorniað æt me, forðon þe ic eom mildheort.
c1000 Ælfric Past. Ep. §46 in B. Thorpe Anc. Laws Eng. (1840) II. 384Lange sceal leornian se ðe læran sceal.
a1400 (1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 6819Lerne not of him þat is lyere.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 36Þus have I lurnet at gentil men.
1575 Brief Disc. Troubl. Franckford 10God grant, we maye lerne at their ensamples.
1608 Shakespeare King Lear ii. ii. 124,I am too old to learne.
1781 W. Cowper Charity 120'Tis thus reciprocating, each with each, Alternately the nations learn and teach.
1863 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) II. 161The great use of a public school education to you, is, not so much to teach you things as to teach you how to learn.
1884 F. M. Crawford Rom. Singer I. 7He was always willing to learn and to read.
†b. Const. on (the matter studied). Obs.
3. c1340 Cursor M. (Trin.) 15614Folweþ him ȝoure fadir is: to lerne on his lare.
a1400 Pistill of Susan 135Wolt þou, ladi, for loue, on vre lay lerne?
1669 J. Denham Cato Major i. 17,I have heard that Socrates the wise Learn'd on the Lute for his last exercise.
a. trans. To acquire knowledge of (a fact); to become acquainted with or informed of (something); to hear of, ascertain. Also with obj. clause.
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 7250He lerrnde wel þurrh hemm. Whatt daȝȝ & whaere o lande. Þatt ȝunge wennchell borenn wass.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 151When you will lerne the time that it shall be full sea.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Hippocrates in Panoplie Epist. 278You, whom I had learned by common voice to be a philosopher of great fame.
1600 Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing ii. ii. 51,I will presently go learne their day of marriage.
1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. II. 27This good newes I have learned by a Letter of yours.
1798 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) IV. 243,I‥have not yet learnt his sentiments on it.
1836 W. Irving Astoria I. 105Lest the captain should learn the fate of the schooner.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. xxii. 717All that he knew about their treachery he had learned at second hand.
1864 R. Browning Mr. Sludge in Dram. Personæ 221He's dead I learn.
b. to learn out: to find out, discover. Now dial.
1629 J. Maxwell tr. Herodian Hist. (1635) 171Then, secretly torturing them, he [Albinus] learnt out all their treachery.
1677 A. Yarranton England's Improvem. I. 109,I will tell you how the Trick is: And if I had not been an old Clothier and a Fulling-Boy when I was young I could not have learnt it out.
1899 W. Raymond Two Men o' Mendip xv. 250But if he should find out? If any should learn it out an 'tell?
c. intr. To be informed, to ascertain, hear (of).
II. To impart knowledge. Now vulgar. 4. trans. To teach. In various constructions:1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 243It has never, that I can learn, been fully observed.
1827 J. Barrington Personal Sketches Own Times I. 29How many rogues 'ill there be at Reuben, as you larn, to-night?
1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona ii. 18He'll have to learn of it on the deaf side of his head no later than to-morrow when I call on him.
a. To teach (a person).
a1300 Cursor Mundi 19028In crist lai þat folk to lern.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Prov. ix. 7Who lerneth [a1425 L.V. techith] a scornere, doth wrong he to hymself.
c1440 York Myst. x. 20Þus lernyd he me.
a1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 2A man aught to lerne his doughters with good ensaumples.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Psalms xxiv. 5Lede me in thy trueth and lerne me.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) Prol. 11Quhen ane ydiot‥presumis to teche or to leyrne ane man that hes baytht speculatione ande experiens.
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine ii. xii. 249No doubt the chickens crowed as the cocks had learned them.
1764 S. Foote Mayor of Garret i. 32[An uneducated speaker] If they would but once submit to be learned by me.
1974 Times 16 Dec. 12/8We asked whether he had learned the instrument at school.‥ 'No. He learned it himself and now he's learning me.'
b. To teach (a person) to do or how to do something. (Also in pass.)
a1400 (1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 8421Set him faste to gode teching Til he be lerned him self to lede.
1480 Caxton Descr. Brit. 34Gentilmens children ben lerned and taught from their yongth to speke frenssh.
a1500 (1400) Sir Torrent of Portyngale (1887) l. 1794To lerne you ffor to ride.
a1540 R. Barnes Wks. (1573) 352/1Doth hee not learne all men to come to Christ.
1590 Spenser Faerie Queene i. vi. 25He would learne The Lyon stoup to him.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding ⁋27That my Father might learn me to speak without this wicked way of swearing.
1706 G. Farquhar Recruiting Officer iii. i. 32The Captain learnt me how to take it with an Air.
1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman v. 181We should learn them, above all things, to lay a due restraint on themselves.
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod iii. i. 115The frequent practice of this exercise must have learned them‥to become excellent horsemen.
1801 S. T. Coleridge Lett. I. 365They learn us to associate a keen and deep feeling with all the good old phrases.
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby III. viii. iii. 211Learn to know the house; learn the house to know you.
1885 G. Allen Babylon i,'Will you learn me to draw a church?'
c. To teach (a person a thing). Also with clause.
?c1200 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 19613To lokenn watt itt lerneþ uss. Off [ure] sawle nede.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. x. 171Logyke I lerned hir and many other lawes, And alle the musouns in musike I made hir to knowe.
c1420 Lydgate Assembly of Gods 957,I shall lerne hem a new daunce.
c1460 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (1885) xi. 135Wherby we bith lerned þat it schal‥be goode to owre prince‥that he be well indowed.
1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 33,I pray you learne me th' use of this table.
1606 J. Carpenter Schelomonocham xiv. f. 58,So learneth he all children‥in what honor‥they should hold those persons.
a1616 Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 367The red-plague rid you For learning me your language.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 253Having learn'd him English.
1741 S. Richardson Pamela III. xxxvii. 353Her Ladyship asked one of the Children‥Who learnt her her Catechism?
1831 J. J. Strang Diary 31 Dec. in M. M. Quaife Kingdom of St. James (1930) 198,I have succeeded in regulating them and learning them what to do without punishing a single schollar.
1876 W. Morris Story of Sigurd ii. 86Thou‥hast learned me all my skill.
1889 'R. Boldrewood' Robbery under Arms xliv,We made up our minds to learn him a lesson.
1914 Sat. Evening Post 4 Apr. 10/3,I learned him that, yuh see.
1935 P. G. Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xv. 181The English public school system‥isn't at all what an educational system should be.‥ If you ask me, they don't learn the little perishers nothing.
1966 F. Shaw et al. (title)Lern yerself Scouse.
d. To teach (a thing) to a person. rare.
1377 Langland Piers Plowman B. x. 374Many tales ȝe tellen that Theologye lerneth.
1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 15v,He‥commaunded it shulde not be lerned to eny Straungers.
1697 J. Collier Ess. Moral Subj. i. 161'Tis the Rod, not the Inclination, which learns the Lesson.
1893 R. L. Stevenson Catriona ii. 21My father learned it to me.
e. Phr. I'll learn you: used as a warning of impending punishment. nonstandard.
1822 J. Galt Sir Andrew Wylie III. xxxiii. 279I'll learn you to fill yoursel fu'.
1873 C. D. Warner in 'Mark Twain' & Warner Gilded Age xxix. 266The conductor‥reached the bell rope, 'Damn you, I'll learn you,' stepped to the door.
1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry iv. 41The common I'll learn you‥when used ironically, has the unstandard meaning of 'I'll teach you never to do that again'.
†5. To inform (a person) of something; with clause or thing as second obj. Obs.
1425 Rolls of Parl. IV. 271/1For, as I am lerned, ther ar to consider two thinges.
1441 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) p. lix,The said misdoers were learned by their especialls [sic]‥that the said officers‥had knowledge of their said lying in waite for them.
a1456 Lord Cromwell in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 110There is a greet straungenesse betwix‥John Radcliff and you‥as I am lerned.
c1500 Sc. Poem Heraldry (Harl. 6149) 84 in F. J. Furnivall Queene Elizabethes Achademy (1869) i. 96Of brutane the duk‥Richast armes is, as I lernit am.
1609 Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida ii. i. 22Learne me the proclamation.
1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 57You learn me Particulars I was ignorant of.
1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 69Having learnt him all which had past.
e. learn-to-(read, ski, swim, etc.): attrib. phr. used of a course of lessons or step-by-step introduction to a skill, sport, subject, etc. orig. and chiefly U.S.
1963 N.Y. Times 1 Dec. x. 28/3 (advt.)'Learn-to-ski' Weekends.
1965 J. Sturm in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 216,I‥found an easy learn-to-read little book.
1967 U. Sedgwick (title)My learn-to-cook book.
1976 Milton Keynes Express 11 June 40/7Newport Pagnell Swimming Club commence operations‥on Tuesday‥with learn to swim classes for youngsters.
1983 Money Jan. 78/1Learn-to-sail and learn-to-cruise vacations are‥offered by boat chartering concerns.
1990 Angling Times 29 Aug. 14/4The chances of anybody making a success of learn-to-beachcast weekends and courses is [sic] a foregone conclusion.
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