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learn Definition

learn (lʉrn)

transitive verb learned or Chiefly Brit.learnt, learn′·ing

  1. to get knowledge of (a subject) or skill in (an art, trade, etc.) by study, experience, instruction, etc.
  2. to come to know to learn what happened
  3. to come to know how to learn to swim
  4. to fix in the mind; memorize
  5. to acquire as a habit or attitude to learn humility
  6. to teach: now dialectal or otherwise nonstandard

Etymology: ME lernen, to learn, teach < OE leornian (akin to Ger lernen) < WGmc *liznōn (akin to Goth laisjan, to teach) < IE base *leis-, track, furrow > L lira, furrow

intransitive verb

  1. to gain knowledge or skill
  2. to be informed; hear (of or about)

learn Related Forms

learn′·able adjective learn′er noun

learn Synonyms

learn

v.

  1. To acquire mentally

    acquire, receive, imbibe, get, absorb, assimilate, digest, take in, drink in, pick up, read, master, ground oneself in, peruse, con, pore over, study, gain information, learn by heart, memorize, be taught a lesson, become well-versed in, soak in, collect one's knowledge, improve one's mind, build one's background, get up on*, get the signal*; see also study 1.

  2. To find out

    discover, ascertain, discern, uncover, unearth, find out, determine, hear, see, read, detect, come to know, come upon, chance on, chance upon, stumble upon, get wind of*, get wise to*; see also discover.

learn, as considered here, implies a finding out of something, often without conscious effort I learned of their marriage from a friend; ascertain implies a finding out with certainty, as by careful inquiry, experimentation, or research I ascertained the firm's credit rating; determine stresses intention to establish the facts exactly, often so as to settle something in doubt to determine the exact denotation of a word; discover implies a finding out, either by chance or by exploration or study, of something already existing or known to others to discover a star, to discover a plot; unearth, in its figurative sense, implies a bringing to light, as by diligent search, of something that has been concealed, lost, or forgotten to unearth old documents, to unearth a secret

learn Usage Examples

Object

  • disability: Dawn says she had a friend who had a teenage daughter with learning disabilities who was helped by Mencap.
  • difficulty: They grow up with mild or moderate learning difficulties.
  • outcome: A case study approach was used to determine the effect of the course design on student learning outcomes.
  • lesson: However, do we take time in the aftermath to learn the lessons such outbreaks teach us?
  • environment: This facility will offer an outstanding learning environment for our students.
  • skill: I like to think Iâd try to keep improving myself in any way I could by learning new skills.

Used with why or when

  • what: Also learn what are the limitations of all job opening sites on the Internet.
  • How: Learn How To Make the Platform Produce square shoulders all around the work piece by screwing a stop to the platform's auxiliary deck.
  • why: Learn why millions of people all around the world have become addicts.. .
  • where: Last week we learned where Charles Kennedy stands on some of these issues.

Infinitive complement

  • swim: Sharon turned 40 and conquered her goals She's lost a stone, learned to swim and toned up!
  • read: About Suzanne Enoch A lifelong lover of books, Suzanne Enoch has been writing them since she learned to read.
  • speak: At school he studied the bible and history and learned to speak Latin, in top classes pupils had to speak Latin.
  • appreciate: I learned to appreciate the depth of the human inside the helmet.
  • live: Now Patricia is learning to live with other apes for the first time.
  • listen: All you need to do is learn to listen to what they are telling you.

Adjective complement

  • more: Do you want to learn more about service audit?
  • English: WEBLINKS WEBLINKS WEBLINKS WEBLINKS WEBLINKS WEBLINKS More than 60,000 people come to the UK every year to learn English.

Preposition: from

  • mistake: We will need to relearn out how to govern ourselves with justice and equity, learning from the mistakes of the current age.
  • experience: So many of us learn from experience on this subject.