- knowledge gained by study; instruction or scholarship
- the act of gaining knowledge
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
learn•ing /ˈlɜrnɪŋ/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- knowledge obtained by careful study in any field of scholarly work.
- the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill.
learn•ing
(lûr′ning),USA pronunciation n.
- knowledge acquired by systematic study in any field of scholarly application.
- the act or process of acquiring knowledge or skill.
- Animal Behavior[Psychol.]the modification of behavior through practice, training, or experience.
- Middle English lerning, Old English leornung. See learn, -ing1 bef. 900
- 1. Learning, erudition, lore, scholarship refer to knowledge existing or acquired. Learning is the most general term. It may refer to knowledge obtained by systematic study or by trial and error:a man of learning; learning in the real world.Erudition suggests a thorough, formal, and profound sort of knowledge obtained by extensive research; it is esp. applied to knowledge in fields other than those of mathematics and physical sciences:a man of vast erudition in languages.Lore is accumulated knowledge in a particular field, esp. of a curious, anecdotal, or traditional nature; the word is now somewhat literary:nature lore; local lore.Scholarship is the formalized learning that is taught in schools, esp. as actively employed by a person trying to master some field of knowledge or extend its bounds:high standards of scholarship in history.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
learning /ˈlɜːnɪŋ/ n
learn /lɜrn/USA pronunciation
v., learned /lɜrnd/USA pronunciation or learnt/lɜrnt/USA pronunciation learn•ing.
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026v.
- to gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, instruction, or experience: [~ + object]to learn a new language.[~ + (how) to + verb]Where did you learn (how) to throw a ball like that?[no object]She learns quickly.
- to become informed of or acquainted with;
find out: [~ + object]to learn the truth.[~ + (that) clause]I learned that he was a sailor only last week.[~ + about/of + object]When did you learn about his past? - to memorize:[~ + object]He learned the poem in ten minutes.
- to gain by experience, exposure to example, or the like:[~ + object]She learned patience from her father.
- Slang Terms[Nonstandard.]to teach:[~ + object + object]learned him a lesson he won't forget.
learn
(lûrn),USA pronunciation v., learned (lûrnd)USA pronunciation or learnt, learn•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
learn′a•ble, adj.
v.t.
- to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience:to learn French; to learn to ski.
- to become informed of or acquainted with;
ascertain:to learn the truth. - to memorize:He learned the poem so he could recite it at the dinner.
- to gain (a habit, mannerism, etc.) by experience, exposure to example, or the like;
acquire:She learned patience from her father. - Computing(of a device or machine, esp. a computer) to perform an analogue of human learning with artificial intelligence.
- Slang Terms[Nonstandard.]to instruct in;
teach.
v.i.
- to acquire knowledge or skill:to learn rapidly.
- to become informed (usually fol. by of ):to learn of an accident.
- bef. 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
- 1. Learn, ascertain, detect, discover imply adding to one's store of facts. To learn is to add to one's knowledge or information:to learn a language.To ascertain is to verify facts by inquiry or analysis:to ascertain the truth about an event.To detect implies becoming aware of something that had been obscure, secret, or concealed:to detect a flaw in reasoning.To discover is used with objective clauses as a synonym of learn in order to suggest that the new information acquired is surprising to the learner:I discovered that she had been married before.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
learn /lɜːn/ vb (learns, learning, learned /lɜːnd/, learnt
- (when tr, may take a clause as object) to gain knowledge of (something) or acquire skill in (some art or practice)
- (transitive) to commit to memory
- (transitive) to gain by experience, example, etc
- (intransitive; often followed by of or about) to become informed; know
- not standard to teach
'learning' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
academe
- academic
- accent
- amentia
- aptitude
- athenaeum
- backward
- Bacon
- behaviour therapy
- biofeedback
- blended learning
- book-learning
- bookwork
- branch
- caddie
- cadet
- CAL
- canon
- Charlemagne
- classroom assistant
- committee
- conditioning
- cretinism
- department
- Dewey
- discipline
- disciplinary
- distance learning
- doctor
- Down's syndrome
- dyslexia
- education
- effendi
- e-learning
- faculty
- flashcard
- floaty
- fool
- Francis I
- fugleman
- glamour
- Hadrian
- hypnopaedia
- idiocy
- idiot
- IHC
- imprinting
- indoctrinate
- intellectually handicapped
- internalize