learn

English

Alternative forms

learne (obsolete)

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) enPR: lûn, IPA^(key): /lɜːn/
(General American) enPR: lûrn, IPA^(key): /lɝn/
Audio (UK); “to learn”: (file)
Audio (US): (file)
(dialectal) enPR: lä(r)n, IPA^(key): /lɑː(ɹ)n/ (see larn)
(Early Modern) IPA^(key): /lɛːrn/, /lɛrn/^[1]

Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)n

Etymology 1

From Middle English lernen, from Old English leornian, 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”).

Cognate with German lernen (“to learn”). See also lore.

Verb

learn (third-person singular simple present learns, present participle learning, simple past and past participle learned or learnt)

To acquire, or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something.
- 1782–1785, William Cowper, “(please specify the page)”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC:
  a school in which he learns sly circumvention
- 1987 April 18, Tom Grabosky, “Gay Men's Voices Rise Up Singin'”, in Gay Community News, page 7:
  I was very impressed with the obvious amount of work that went into the learning and synchronization of such a complex and harmonically and difficult score.
- 1988, Mark Andre Peter Loranc, “Acknowledgements”, in A Study of the Ionospheric Signature of Ion Supply from the Ionosphere to the Magnetosphere (PhD dissertation), University of Texas at Dallas, page iv:
  I have learned far more from them about how to be a scientist than they realize. Above all else, they taught me the virtues of proper waterfowl alignment.
- 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
  Every day I learn more about this great city.
- 2019 December 15, Hugh Graham, Alice Hutton, “Milk or tea first? Charles's butlers have the answer”, in The Sunday Times, number 10,188, page 5:
  Other rules learnt by butlers include lighting candles 15 minutes before guests enter a room, and not saying "good morning" to guests until you are 5ft away.
To attend a course or other educational activity.
- 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
  For, as he took delight to introduce me, I took delight to learn.
To gain knowledge from a bad experience so as to improve.
learn from one's mistakes
To study.
I learn medicine.

They learn psychology.
To come to know; to become informed of; to find out.
He just learned that he will be sacked.

Usage notes

See other, dated and regional, sense of learn below.

Conjugation

Conjugation of *learn*
	present tense	past tense
infinitive	(to) learn

1st-person singular	learn	learned
2nd-person singular	learn, learnest^†	learned, learnedst^†
3rd-person singular	learns, learneth^†	learned
plural	learn	learned

subjunctive	learn	learned

imperative	learn	—

participles	learning	learned

^† Archaic or obsolete.

Synonyms

study

Antonyms

forget
teach

Derived terms

Translations

to acquire knowledge or ability

Abkhaz: аҵара (acʼara)
Adyghe: еджэ́н (jedžɛ́n)
Afrikaans: leer (af)
Ahom: 𑜇𑜢𑜤𑜀𑜫 (phük)
Albanian: mësoj (sq), nxë
Amharic: መማር (mämar)
Arabic: تَعَلَّمَ (ar) (taʕallama)
Egyptian Arabic: اتعلم (itʕallim)

Moroccan Arabic: تعلم (tʕallam)

South Levantine Arabic: تعلم (tʕallam)
Armenian: սովորել (hy) (sovorel), ուսանել (hy) (usanel)
Aromanian: nvetsu, anvetsu
Assamese: শিকা (xika)
Asturian: aprender (ast)
Avar: цӏалдезе (cʼaldeze)
Azerbaijani: öyrənmək (az)
Bashkir: өйрәнеү (öyrənew)
Basque: ikasi
Belarusian: вучы́цца (vučýcca)
Bengali: শেখা (bn) (śekha)
Breton: deskiñ (br)
Bulgarian: у́ча се (úča se)
Burmese: သင်ကြား (my) (sangkra:), သင် (my) (sang)
Catalan: aprendre (ca)
Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵍⵎⴷ (lmd)
Chechen: деша (deša)
Cherokee: ᎠᏕᏠᏆᎠ (adetloquaa)
Chinese:
Cantonese: 學 / 学 (yue) (hok⁶ zaap⁶), 學 / 学 (yue) (hok⁶)

Eastern Min: 學 / 学 (ŏ̤h, hŏk)

Mandarin: 學習 / 学习 (zh) (xuéxí), 學 / 学 (zh) (xué)
Cornish: dyski (Revived Middle Cornish), deski (Revived Late Cornish)
Czech: učit (cs) se
Danish: lære (da)
Dutch: leren (nl)
Esperanto: lerni (eo), instruiĝi
Estonian: õppima (et), omandama
Faroese: læra (fo)
Fijian: vuli (fj)
Finnish: oppia (fi), opetella (fi)
French: apprendre (fr), étudier (fr)
Galician: aprender (gl)
Georgian: სწავლა (sc̣avla), შესწავლა (šesc̣avla)
German: lernen (de)
Greek: μαθαίνω (el) (mathaíno)
Ancient: μανθάνω (manthánō)
Haitian Creole: aprann
Hawaiian: aʻo
Hebrew: למד (he) (lamád)
Higaonon: tu-un
Hindi: सीखना (hi) (sīkhnā)
Hungarian: megtanul (hu), elsajátít (hu)
Icelandic: læra (is), nema (is)
Ido: lernar (io)
Indonesian: belajar (id)
Interlingua: apprender
Irish: foghlaim
Old Irish: fo·gleinn, múinid do (+ pronoun agreeing with the subject)
Istro-Romanian: ănmeţå
Italian: imparare (it), apprendere (it), scoprire (it)
Japanese: 習う (ja) (ならう, narau), 学ぶ (ja) (まなぶ, manabu)
Javanese: sinau (jv)
Kalmyk: сурх (surx)
Khmer: រៀន (km) (riən)
Komi-Permyak: велавны (velavny)
Korean: 배우다 (ko) (bae'uda)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: فێربوون (fêrbûn)

Northern Kurdish: hîn bûn (ku), fêr bûn (ku), elimîn (ku)
Ladino: ambezar
Lak: лахьхьин (lax̂:in)
Lao: ຮຽນ (hīan), ຮຽນຮູ້ (hīan hū)
Latin: discō (la), sciscō, resciscō, reperiō, inaudiō
Latvian: mācīties (lv)
Lezgi: кӏелун (ḳelun)
Ligurian: imprende
Lingala: yekola
Lithuanian: išmokti, mokytis (lt)
Lü: ᦵᦣᧃ (hen)
Malagasy: mianatra (mg)
Malay: belajar (ms)
Maltese: tgħallem
Manchu: ᡨᠠᠴᡳᠮᠪᡳ (tacimbi)
Maore Comorian: ufundria
Maori: ako
Marathi: शिकणे (mr) (śikṇe)
Mòcheno: learnen
Moksha: тонафнемс (tonafnems)
Mongolian: сурах (mn) (surax)
Navajo: íhoołʼaah
Nepali: सिक्नु (siknu)
Ngazidja Comorian: ufunɗishia
Norman: apprendre
Norwegian: lære (no)
Occitan: aprendre (oc)
Old French: aprandre
Oromo: barachuu
Ossetian: ахуыр кӕнын (ax°yr kænyn)
Ottoman Turkish: اوگرنمك (öğrenmek)
Persian: یاد گرفتن (fa) (yâd gereftan), آموختن (fa) (âmuxtan)
Polish: uczyć się (pl) impf, nauczyć się (pl) pf
Portuguese: aprender (pt)
Quechua: yachay
Romanian: învăța (ro)
Russian: учи́ться (ru) (učítʹsja), (transitive) учи́ть (ru) (učítʹ)
Sanskrit: शिक्षति (śikṣati)
Scottish Gaelic: ionnsaich
Serbo-Croatian: učiti (sh) impf, naučiti (sh) pf
Shan: ႁဵၼ်း (shn) (háen), လဵပ်ႈႁဵၼ်း (lāep háen)
Sherpa: སློབ (slob)
Sinhalese: ඉගෙනගන්නවා (igenagannawā)
Slovak: učiť sa
Slovene: učiti se (sl) impf, naučiti se pf
Somali: barasho (so)
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: wuknuś

Upper Sorbian: wuknyć
Southern Ohlone: urse
Spanish: aprender (es)
Sranan Tongo: leri
Swahili: -jifunza (sw)
Swedish: lära (sv) sig
Sylheti: ꠢꠤꠇꠣ (hika)
Tai Dam: ꪵꪮꪚ
Tai Nüa: ᥜᥫᥐᥱ (fǒek)
Tajik: ёд гирифтан (yod giriftan), омӯхтан (omüxtan)
Tamil: நேர் (ta) (nēr), நேர்படு-தல் (nērpaṭu-tal), கல் (ta) (kal)
Telugu: నేర్చుకొను (te) (nērcukonu)
Thai: เรียน (th) (riian), ศึกษา (th) (sʉ̀k-sǎa), เรียนรู้ (th) (riian-rúu)
Tibetan: སློབ (slob), སྦྱོང་བ (sbyong ba)
Tocharian B: ākl-
Tsez: тӏетӏра (t’et’ra)
Turkish: öğrenmek (tr)
Tuvan: өөренир (öörenir)
Ukrainian: вчи́тися impf (včýtysja), навчи́тися pf (navčýtysja), навча́тися (navčátysja), вивча́ти (vyvčáty)
Umbundu: okulilongisa
Urdu: سیکھنا (sīkhnā)
Vietnamese: học (vi) (學 (vi)), học tập (vi) (學習 (vi))
Volapük: lärnön (vo)
Walloon: aprinde (wa)
Welsh: dysgu (cy)
West Frisian: leare
White Hmong: kawm
Yiddish: לערנען זיך (lernen zikh)
Zhuang: hag

to attend educational activity

Arabic: تَعَلَّمَ (ar) (taʕallama)
Moroccan Arabic: قرا (qra)
Armenian: սովորել (hy) (sovorel), ուսանել (hy) (usanel), կրթվել (hy) (krtʻvel)
Bashkir: уҡыу (uqıw)
Basque: ikasi
Bulgarian: уча (bg) (uča)
Catalan: aprendre (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 學習 / 学习 (zh) (xuéxí), 學 / 学 (zh) (xué)
Czech: učit (cs) se
Danish: lære (da)
Estonian: õppima (et)
Finnish: oppia (fi), opiskella (fi)
French: faire des études (fr), étudier (fr)
German: studieren (de), lernen (de)
Greek: μαθαίνω (el) (mathaíno)
Hungarian: tanul (hu), tanulmányokat folytat
Indonesian: belajar (id)
Italian: imparare (it), apprendere (it)
Japanese: 勉強する (ja) (べんきょうする, benkyō suru)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: xwandin (ku), xwendin (ku)
Latin: disco (la)
Portuguese: estudar (pt)
Russian: учи́ться (ru) (učítʹsja)
Scottish Gaelic: ionnsaich
Spanish: aprender (es)
Ukrainian: вчи́тися (včýtysja), навча́тися (navčátysja), вчи́ти (včýty), вивча́ти (vyvčáty)
Walloon: aler a scole, studyî (wa)
West Frisian: studearre

to make use of a bad experience

Arabic: اِعْتَبَرَ (iʕtabara), اِتَّعَظَ (ittaʕaẓa)
Moroccan Arabic: تعلم (tʕallem)
Bashkir: һабаҡ алыу (habaq alıw)
Basque: ikasi
Bulgarian: уча се (uča se)
Catalan: aprendre (ca)
Czech: učit se (cs), poučit se (cs)
Danish: lære (da)
Esperanto: instruiĝi
Estonian: õppima (et)
Fijian: vuli (fj)
Finnish: oppia (fi)
French: apprendre (fr)
Greek: μαθαίνω (el) (mathaíno)
Hungarian: tanul (hu), okul (hu)
Italian: imparare (it)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: فێر بوون (fêr bûn)

Northern Kurdish: hîn bûn (ku), fêr bûn (ku), elimîn (ku)
Latin: disco (la)
Marathi: शिकणे (mr) (śikṇe)
Portuguese: aprender (pt)
Romanian: învăța (ro)
Scottish Gaelic: ionnsaich
Spanish: aprender (es)
Walloon: aprinde (wa)

to gain knowledge from a bad experience so as to improve

Arabic: اِتَّعَظَ (ittaʕaẓa), اِعْتَبَرَ (iʕtabara)
Catalan: aprendre (ca)
Czech: učit se (cs), zlepšovat se, zdokonalovat se (cs)
Estonian: arenema
Finnish: oppia (fi)
Italian: migliorare (it)
Latin: disco (la)
Portuguese: aprender (pt)
Scottish Gaelic: ionnsaich
Slovak: učiť sa
Spanish: aprender (es)

to be studying

Arabic:
Moroccan Arabic: قرا (qra)
Basque: ikasi
Bulgarian: изучавам (bg) (izučavam)
Bulgarian: изучавам (bg) (izučavam)
Catalan: estudiar (ca)
Czech: učit se (cs), studovat (cs)
Danish: lære (da), studere
Dutch: leren (nl), studeren (nl)
Esperanto: studi
Estonian: õppima (et)
Finnish: opiskella (fi), opetella (fi)
French: étudier (fr)
Greek: μελετώ (el) (meletó), σπουδάζω (el) (spoudázo)
Hungarian: tanul (hu)
Indonesian: belajar (id)
Italian: imparare (it), studiare (it)
Japanese: 勉強する (ja) (べんきょうする, benkyō suru)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: خوێندن (ckb) (xwêndin), سەعی کردن (se'î kirdin)

Northern Kurdish: xwandin (ku), xwendin (ku)
Latin: studeo, disco (la)
Maori: ako
Polish: uczyć się (pl)
Portuguese: aprender (pt), estudar (pt)
Romanian: învăța (ro), studiu (ro)
Russian: изуча́ть (ru) (izučátʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: ionnsaich
Spanish: estudiar (es)
Walloon: studyî (wa), aprinde (wa)
West Frisian: studearre

to come to know; to become informed of; to find out

Armenian: իմանալ (hy) (imanal)
Bulgarian: узнавам (bg) (uznavam)
Bulgarian: узнавам (bg) (uznavam)
Catalan: aprendre (ca)
Czech: zjistit (cs), dovědět se, dozvědět se
Danish: lære (da), erfare (da)
Dutch: ervaren (nl), vernemen (nl), te weten komen, op de hoogte gesteld worden
Esperanto: informiĝi, ekscii
Estonian: õppima (et)
Finnish: saada tietää, saada selville
French: apprendre (fr)
German: erfahren (de)
Greek: μαθαίνω (el) (mathaíno), πληροφορούμαι (el) (pliroforoúmai)
Hungarian: megtud (hu), értesül (hu)
Italian: apprendere (it)
Japanese: 知る (ja) (shiru)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: hay jê bûn (ku), jê haydar bûn
Latin: disco (la), scisco, rescisco, cognosco (la)
Marathi: कळणे (mr) (kaḷṇe)
Old English: ġeāscian
Portuguese: descobrir que, ficar sabendo
Romanian: afla (ro)
Russian: узна́ть (ru) (uznátʹ)
Scottish Gaelic: faigh a-mach
Slovak: dozvedieť sa
Spanish: aprender (es), enterarse (es)
Swahili: kupata habari
Swedish: få reda på
Telugu: తెలుసుకొను (te) (telusukonu)
Walloon: aprinde (wa)
West Frisian: leare

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: ^{(please verify)} mëson
Guaraní: ^{(please verify)} ñembo'euka
Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} belajar (id)
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 배우다 (ko) (bae'uda)
Latin: ^{(please verify)} discere
Latvian: ^{(please verify)} mācīties (lv)
Lithuanian: ^{(please verify)} mokytis (lt)
Manchu: ^{(please verify)} tacimbi
Maori: ^{(please verify)} ako
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} учити

Roman: ^{(please verify)} učiti (sh)
Slovene: ^{(please verify)} učiti (sl), (3) ^{(please verify)} izučiti
Swedish: (1, 4, 5) ^{(please verify)} lära sig (sv)
Tupinambá: ^{(please verify)} nhembo'e (thing learned indicated with postposition esé (r-))
Volapük: ^{(please verify)} lärnön (vo)
Woiwurrung: ^{(please verify)} yagila

Noun

learn (plural learns)

The act of learning something
- 2003, Gregory A. Raymer, The Woodie Chronicles: My Journey Through America on the road t recovery in a 1949 Woodie Wagon:
  I did a quick learn of the place by watching the people shuffle in. There was a healthy mix of beautiful and freaky people, who shared a few common denominators […]

Etymology 2

Possibly related to Middle English leren, from Old English lǣran (“to teach, instruct, indoctrinate”), from Proto-West Germanic *laiʀijan, from Proto-Germanic *laizijaną (“to teach”), from *laizō (“lore, teaching", literally, "track, trace”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to track, furrow”).

Cognate with Scots lere, leir, Saterland Frisian leere, West Frisian leare, Dutch leren, German lehren, Danish lære, Swedish lära. See also lear, lore. But normally the Middle English word would give *lere, not learn.

Verb

learn (third-person singular simple present learns, present participle learning, simple past and past participle learned or learnt)

(now only in non-standard speech and dialects) To teach.
Give him a clip round the ear. That'll learn him!
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter IX, in Le Morte Darthur, book VIII:
  And whan she had serched hym
  she fond in the bottome of his wound that therin was poyson
  And soo she heled hym […]
  and therfore Tramtrist cast grete loue to la beale Isoud
  for she was at that tyme the fairest mayde and lady of the worlde
  And there Tramtryst lerned her to harpe
  and she beganne to haue grete fantasye vnto hym
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
- 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], signature F3, verso:
  Sweete Prince, you learne me noble thankfulnes: […]
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v], page 373, column 1:
  Haue I not bene
  Thy Pupill long? Haſt thou not learn'd me how
  To make Perfumes?
- 1663 April 27 (Gregorian calendar), John Bunyan, “Touching Parents”, in Christian Behaviour; or The Fruits of True Christianity. […], London: […] F. Smith, […], →OCLC, page 56:
  […] Take heed of filling their [i.e., children's] heads with VVhimzies, and unprofitable Notions; for this vvill ſooner learn them to be malepert and proud, than ſober and humble.
- 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXVI, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, page 200:
  But we’ll play Robin Hood—it’s noble fun. I’ll learn you.
- 1993, The Simpsons, (18 Feb. 1993) Lisa's thoughts:
  That'll learn him to bust my tomater.

Usage notes

Now often considered non-standard.

Derived terms

learned

Related terms

larn
lore

Translations

teach — see teach

References

William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “learn”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
“learn”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC..
Family Word Finder, Readers Digest Association Inc. NY 1975

^ Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎^[1], second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 8, page 470: “Learn has ę̄ in Levins (beside ĕ), Hart (beside ĕ), Bullokar, and Cooper, and ĕ in Robinson, Gil, Hodges, Poole, Coles, Brown, and RS.”.

Anagrams

Laren, Larne, laner, neral, renal

Bavarian

Alternative forms

learna
learnan (Timau)

Etymology

From Old High German lernēn, lirnēn, from Proto-West Germanic *liʀnēn. Compare German lernen, English learn, Dutch leren, Danish lære.

Verb

learn

(Sappada, Sauris) to learn

References

Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Scots

Etymology

From Old English leornian.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /lɛrn/

Verb

learn (third-person singular simple present learns, present participle learnin, simple past learnt, past participle learnt)

To learn.
To teach.

[1] Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700‎^[1], second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 8, page 470: “Learn has ę̄ in Levins (beside ĕ), Hart (beside ĕ), Bullokar, and Cooper, and ĕ in Robinson, Gil, Hodges, Poole, Coles, Brown, and RS.”.

[1]