learn
Americanverb (used with object)
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to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience.
to learn French;
to learn to ski.
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to become informed of or acquainted with; ascertain.
to learn the truth.
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to memorize.
He learned the poem so he could recite it at the dinner.
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to gain (a habit, mannerism, etc.) by experience, exposure to example, or the like; acquire.
She learned patience from her father.
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(of a device or machine, especially a computer) to perform an analogue of human learning with artificial intelligence.
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Nonstandard. to instruct in; teach.
verb (used without object)
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to acquire knowledge or skill.
to learn rapidly.
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to become informed (usually followed byof ).
to learn of an accident.
verb
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(when tr, may take a clause as object) to gain knowledge of (something) or acquire skill in (some art or practice)
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(tr) to commit to memory
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(tr) to gain by experience, example, etc
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(intr; often foll by of or about) to become informed; know
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not_standard to teach
Usage
What are other ways to say learn?
To learn something is to acquire knowledge of it through study or experience. How does learn compare with discover, ascertain, and detect? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
- learnable adjective
- mislearn verb
- outlearn verb (used with object)
- relearn verb
Etymology
Origin of learn
First recorded before 900; Middle English lernen, Old English leornian “to learn, read, ponder” (cognate with German lernen ); akin to lesan “to glean” (cognate with German lesen “to read”). See lear
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That could have been the end of the story, but Marcus-Dew has taken what she learned and started again.
From BBC
Wolf Alice, winning best group, used their allotted stage time to make a plea for the "pubs, clubs and grassroots venues where we quite literally learned to play our instruments and write our songs".
From BBC
A year later, he returned to Iran to study in Qom, another important center of Shiite learning.
Society imposes an array of restrictions on girls at an early age, many of them learned through media consumption.
From Salon
He details how he had to learn to walk, then run and jump again, adding: "The hardest part wasn't the recovery. It was the knockbacks for me."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
