learn, v.
(lɜːn)
Pa. tense and pple. learned (lɜːnd), learnt (lɜːnt). Forms: 1 leornian, Northumb. liorniᵹa, 2 leornen, lornen, 2–3 leornie-n, 3 -in, leorny, liernin, lerni(e, 3–4 lernen, 4 leorne, lerny, l(e)urne, Kent. lierne, lyerne, -i, -y, 4–5 leerne, 4–6 lern(e, 4, 6, 9 dial. larn, 6 Sc. leyrne, leirne, 6–7 learne, 6– learn. pa. tense 1 leornode, -ade, 3 Orm. lerrnde, 3–4 leornede, 4 lernid, leernde, lernd, 4–6 lerned, 5 leerned, lurned, -et, 5–6 lernyd, 6 Sc. lernit, leirned, -it, 7– learned, learnt. pa. pple. 3 ileornet, 3–5 ilerned, 3, 6 ylerned; from 14th c. onwards as in pa. tense
[OE. leornian, Northumb. liorniᵹa = OFris. lirna, lerna, OS. lînôn (not found in Du.), OHG. lirnên, lernên, (MHG., mod.G. lernen):—WGer. *liznêjan, *liznôjan, f. *lis-, wk.-grade of *lais-, root of OTeut. *lairâ lore.]
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, learn by rote, for which see the ns.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xvii. [xxiii.] (1890) 232 From þæm he þæt ᵹemet ᵹeleornade reᵹollices þeodscipes. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Mark xiii. 28 From fic-beom ðonne liorniᵹe bispell. c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 308/26 Þam þe lyste þisne cræft leornian. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 55 Gif we leornið godes lare! c 1200 Ormin 9309 Too leornenn lare att Sannt Johan Off þeȝȝre sawle nede. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 17 Ate biginninge of cristendom elch man leornede pater noster and credo. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 940 Þes is al þe lare þat ich nu leorni. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 167 Þis Julianus in his childehode lerned nygromancie and wicchecraft. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xi. 58 Al that Cristen men and wommen ouȝten leerne thei mowe leerne out of the Bible. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 238, I woulde have you to understand and learne this lesson. 1667 Milton P.L. xi. 360 To learn True patience, and to temper joy with fear. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i. (1841) 19 What shall I learn there of God? 1845 M. Patterson Ess. (1889) I. 16 The Frank..learned with implicit belief his faith from the mouth of the Roman priest. 1874 Green Short Hist. iv. §i. 162 It 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.
| c 1000 ælfric Deut. xiv. 23 Leorna þæt þu ondræde Drihten on ælc tid. c 1200 Ormin 4970 Lerneþþ att me þatt icc amm wiss Rihht milde and meoc wiþþ herrte. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 73 Alle þo þe ne wilen listen lorspel and þeron lernen wiche ben sinnen. 1340 Ayenb. 233 O, þu þet art cristen, lyerne hou þou sselt louie god. c 1400 Cato's Morals 62 in Cursor M. App. iv. 1670 Lerne..quat werk þou folow salle. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 561 Henceforth I learne that to obey is best. 1884 F. Temple Relat. Relig. & Sci. vii. (1885) 220 Scientific men will learn that there are other kinds of knowledge besides scientific knowledge. |
c. With inf.; also with how and inf.
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xx. [xxviii.] (1890) 246 Þa ða he in wreotum leornade to donne. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 117 Discite bene facere þet is..leorniað god to wurchenne. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 675 Betere him adde ibe Abbe bileued þed doune þan ilerned vor to fle. Ibid. 10693 So hii miȝte lerni traitour to be. c 1340 Cursor M. 7496 (Trin.) Þou lernedest neuer to fiȝt. c 1500 Merch. & Son in Halliw. Nugæ Poet 23 Y wolde lerne of marchandyse to passe ovyr the see! 1547 Latimer 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 70 So your grace must learne howe to do of Salomon. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. v. i. 1999, I was a gamesome boy and learned to sing. 1729 Butler Serm. Wks. 1873 II. 47 There are times for silence: when they should learn to hear, and be attentive. 1838 Longfellow Ps. Life ix, Learn to labour and to wait. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 32 We 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.
| 1687 Miege Gt. Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., The truth of it we are as yet to learn, nous n'en savons pas encore la Verité. 1726 Leoni Alberti's 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. 91 Whence he came..Sir Edward was yet to learn. |
2. a. intr. To acquire knowledge of a subject or matter; to receive instruction. Const. as in sense 1.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 13 Leorniað æt me, forðon þe ic eom mildheort. c 1000 ælfric Past Ep. §46 in Thorpe Laws II. 384 Lange sceal leornian se ðe læran sceal. c 1340 Cursor M. 6819 (Trin.) Lerne not of him þat is lyere. c 1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 36 Thus have I lurnet at gentil men. 1575 Brief Disc. Troubl. Franckford 10 God grant, we maye lerne at their ensamples. 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 134 Sir, I am too old to learne. 1781 Cowper Charity 120 'Tis thus reciprocating, each with each, Alternately the nations learn and teach. 1863 Kingsley Lett. (1878) II. 161 The 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. 7 He was always willing to learn and to read. |
† b. Const. on (the matter studied). Obs.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 15614 (Trin.) Folweþ him ȝoure fadir is: to lerne on his lare. a 1400 Pistill of Susan 135 Wolt þou, ladi, for loue, on vre lay lerne? a 1668 Denham Old Age 274, I have heard that Socrates the wise Learned on the lute for his last exercise. |
3. a. trans. To acquire knowledge of (a fact); to become acquainted with or informed of (something); to hear of, ascertain. Also with obj. clause.
| c 1200 Ormin 7250 He lerrnde wel þurrh hemm Whatt daȝȝ, and whære o lande, Þatt ȝunge wenchell borenn wass. 1559 W. Cuningham Cosmogr. Glasse 151 When you will lerne the time that it shall be full sea. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 278 You, whom I had learned by common voice to be a philosopher of great fame. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. ii. 57, I will presentlie goe learne their day of marriage. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II.) 27 This good newes I have learned by a letter of yours. 1798 Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 243, I..have not yet learnt his sentiments on it. 1836 W. Irving Astoria I. 105 Lest the captain should learn the fate of the schooner. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxii. IV. 717 All that he knew about their treachery he had learned at second hand. 1864 Browning Dram. Pers., Mr. Sludge 221 He's dead I learn. |
b. to learn out: to find out, discover. Now dial.
| 1629 Maxwell Herodian (1635) 171 Then, secretly torturing them, he [Albinus] learnt out all their treachery. 1677 A. Yarranton Eng. Improv. 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 Raymond Two Men o' Mendip xv. 250 But if he should find out? If any should learn it out an 'tell? |
c. intr. To be informed, to ascertain, hear (of).
| 1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters III. 243 It has never, that I can learn, been fully observed. 1827 Sir. J. Barrington Sketches I. ii. 29 How many rogues 'ill there be at Reuben, as you larn, to-night? 1893 Stevenson Catriona ii. 18 He'll have to learn of it on the deaf side of his head no later than to-morrow when I call on him. |
II. To impart knowledge. Now vulgar.
4. trans. To teach. In various constructions: a. To teach (a person).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 19028 In crist lai þat folk to lern. 1382 Wyclif Prov. ix. 7 Who lerneth [1388 techith] a scornere, doth wrong he to hymself. c 1440 York Myst. x. 20 Þus lernyd he me. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 2 A man aught to lerne his doughters with good ensaumples. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xxiv. 5 Lede me in thy trueth and lerne me. 1549 Compl. Scot. Prol. 14 Quhen ane ydiot..presumis to teche or to leyrne ane man that hes baytht speculatione ande experiens. 1650 Fuller Pisgah ii. xii. 249 No doubt the chickens crowed as the cocks had learned them. 1763 Foote Mayor of G. ii. Wks. 1799 I. 178 [An uneducated speaker] If they would but once submit to be learned by me. 1974 Times 16 Dec. 12/8 We 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.)
| c 1340 Cursor M. 8421 (Trin.) Set him faste to gode teching Til he be lerned him self to lede. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1897 To lerne you ffor to ride. 1480 Caxton Descr. Brit. 34 Gentilmens children ben lerned and taught from their yongth to speke frenssh. a 1540 Barnes Wks. (1573) 352/1 Doth hee not learne all men to come to Christ. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vi. 25 He would learne The Lyon stoup to him. 1666 Bunyan Grace Ab. ¶27 That my Father might learn me to speak without this wicked way of swearing. 1706 Farquhar Recruiting Officer iii. i, The captain learned me how to take it with an air. 1792 M. Wollstonecraft Right Wom. v. 181 We should learn them, above all things, to lay a due restraint on themselves. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. i. 115 The frequent practice of this exercise must have learned them..to become excellent horsemen. 1801 Coleridge Lett. I. 365 They learn us to associate a keen and deep feeling with all the good old phrases. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby viii. iii, Learn 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.
| c 1200 Ormin 19613 To lokenn watt itt lerneþ uss Off [ure] sawle nede. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 171 Logyke I lerned hir and many other lawes, And alle the musouns in musike I made hir to knowe. c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 957, I shall lerne hem a new daunce. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. xi. (1885) 135 Wherby 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 Solomon's Solace xiv. 58 So learneth he all children..in what honor..they should hold those persons. 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. ii. 365 The red-plague rid you For learning me your language. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. xv. (1840) 255 Having learnt him English. 1742 Richardson Pamela III. 353 Her 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 Morris Sigurd (1877) 86 Thou..hast learned me all my skill. 1889 ‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xliv, We made up our minds to learn him a lesson. 1914 Sat. Even. Post 4 Apr. 10/3, I learned him that, yuh see. 1935 Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xv. 181 The 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 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 374 Many tales ȝe tellen that Theologye lerneth. 1477 Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 15 b, He..commaunded it shulde not be lerned to any Straungers. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. i. 161 'Tis the Rod, not the Inclination, which learns the Lesson. 1893 Stevenson Catriona 21 My father learned it to me. |
¶ e. Phr. I'll learn you: used as a warning of impending punishment. Non-standard.
| 1822 J. Galt Sir A. Wylie III. xxxiii. 279 I'll learn you to fill yoursel fu'. 1873 C. D. Warner in ‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age xxix. 266 The conductor..reached the bell rope, ‘Damn you, I'll learn you,’ stepped to the door. 1974 P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry iv. 41 The 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 Parlt. IV. 271/1 For, as I am lerned, ther ar to consider two thinges. 1441 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 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. a 1456 Ld. Cromwell in Paston Lett. III. 426 There is a greet straungenesse betwix..John Radcliff and you..as I am lerned. c 1500 in Q. Eliz. Acad. 96 Of brutane the duk..Richast armes is, as I lernit am. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. i. 22 Learne me the Proclamation. 1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 57 You learn me Particulars I was ignorant of. Ibid. 69 Having learnt him all which had past. |
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Add: [I.] [1.] 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 40/7 Newport Pagnell Swimming Club commence operations..on Tuesday..with learn to swim classes for youngsters. 1983 Money Jan. 78/1 Learn-to-sail and learn-to-cruise vacations are..offered by boat chartering concerns. 1990 Angling Times 29 Aug. 14/4 The chances of anybody making a success of learn-to-beachcast weekends and courses is [sic] a foregone conclusion. |