learn

verb (learned; learning) Etymology: Middle English lernen, from Old English leornian; akin to Old High German lernēn to learn, Old English last footprint, Latin lira furrow, track Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. a. (1) to gain knowledge or understanding of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience <

learn a trade

> (2) memorize <

learn the lines of a play

> b. to come to be able <

learn to dance

> c. to come to realize <

learned that honesty paid

> 2. a. nonstandard teach b. obsolete to inform of something 3. to come to know ; hear <

we just learned that he was ill

> intransitive verb to acquire knowledge or skill or a behavioral tendency Synonyms: see discover • learnable adjective • learner noun Usage: Learn in the sense of “teach” dates from the 13th century and was standard until at least the early 19th <

made them drunk with true Hollands—and then learned them the art of making bargains — Washington Irving

>. But by Mark Twain's time it was receding to a speech form associated chiefly with the less educated <

never done nothing for three months but set in his back yard and learn that frog to jump — Mark Twain

>. The present-day status of learn has not risen. This use persists in speech, but in writing it appears mainly in the representation of such speech or its deliberate imitation for effect.