1. gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught: "they'd started learning French"Similaracquire a knowledge ofgain an understanding ofacquire skill inbecome competent inbecome proficient ingraspmastertake inabsorbassimilatepick updigestfamiliarize oneself withbecome expert inknow inside outknow backwardscomprehendstudyread up onwork atapply oneself tobe taughthave lessons inpursueinformal:get the hang ofget clued up aboutget the point of
▪ commit to memory: "I'd learned too many grim poems in school"Similarmemorizelearn by heartlearn by rotecommit to memorybecome word-perfect inlearn word for wordlearn parrot-fashionget off/down pathave off/down patknowretaininformal:get off by heartarchaic:conOppositeforget
▪ become aware of (something) by information or from observation: "I learned that they had eaten already"Similardiscoverfind outbecome awarebe made awarebe informedhave it brought to one's attentionhearbe given to understandget to knowcome to knowhear tellgatherunderstandascertainestablishrealizedetermineinformal:get wind of the factget wise to the factsuss outdope out
2. teach (someone):archaic, informal"“That'll learn you,” he chuckled"
Word OriginOld Englishleornian ‘learn’ (in Middle English also ‘teach’), of West Germanic origin; related to German lernen, also to lore1.
