Link Centre Dictionary

learn

UK/lɜːn/ US/lɝn/ very common

verb

1.

acquire or gain knowledge or skills

  • “She learned dancing from her sister”
  • “I learned Sanskrit”
  • “Children acquire language at an amazing rate”
Synonyms
2.

get to know or become aware of, usually accidentally

  • “I learned that she has two grown-up children”
  • “I see that you have been promoted”
Synonyms
3.

commit to memory; learn by heart

  • “Have you memorized your lines for the play yet?”
Synonyms
4.

be a student of a certain subject

  • “She is reading for the bar exam”
Synonyms
5.

impart skills or knowledge to

  • “I taught them French”
  • “He instructed me in building a boat”
Synonyms
6.

find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort

  • “I want to see whether she speaks French”
  • “See whether it works”
  • “find out if he speaks Russian”
  • “Check whether the train leaves on time”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English lernen (“to learn", also, "to teach"”), from Old English leornian (“to learn", rarely also, "to teach”), from Proto-West Germanic *liʀnōn, from Proto-Germanic *lizaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(le-)lóys-e, stative from the root *leys- (“track, furrow, trace, trail”). The spelling with ⟨ea⟩ is of Early Modern English origin and reflects a lengthening of /ɛ~e/ to /eː/ before /rn/ in Late Old English or Early Middle English, then later lowering to /ɛː/; the modern pronunciation reflects still later reshortening. Cognate with Old Frisian lernia, lerna (“to learn”), Middle Low German lernen (“to learn", also, "to teach”), Middle Dutch leernen (“to learn", also, "to teach”) (whence Dutch lernen (“to study scripture”)), German lernen (“to learn”). See also lore and lear.

Phrases

  • learn Arabic
  • learn Chinese
  • learn from experience
  • learn one's lesson
  • learn one's place
  • learn the hard way
  • learn the ropes
  • learn to walk before one can run

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.