learn
Pronunciation: /ləːn/
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[ with object]
Definition of learn
verb ( past and past participle learned /ləːnt, ləːnd/ or chiefly British learnt /ləːnt/)
Derivatives
Origin:
Old English leornian 'learn' (in Middle English also 'teach'), of West Germanic origin; related to German lernen, also to lore1
In modern standard English it is wrong to use learn to mean teach, as in that’ll learn you (correct use is that’ll teach you). This meaning has been recorded since the 13th century and has been used by writers such as Spenser, Bunyan, and Samuel Johnson, but it fell into disfavour in the early 19th century and is now found only in non-standard and dialect use.
