Showing Results for "learned"

See Also:

• past participle of learn.
• past tense form of learn.

learned

American  

[lur-nid, lurnd] / ˈlɜr nɪd, lɜrnd /

adjective

1. having much knowledge; scholarly; erudite.

   learned professors.

2. connected or involved with the pursuit of knowledge, especially of a scholarly nature.

   a learned journal.

3. of or showing learning or knowledge; well-informed.

   learned in the ways of the world.

4. acquired by experience, study, etc..

   learned behavior.

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learned British  

/ ˈlɜːnɪd /

adjective

1. having great knowledge or erudition

2. involving or characterized by scholarship

3. (prenominal) a title applied in referring to a member of the legal profession, esp to a barrister

   my learned friend

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• learnedly
  adverb
• half-learnedly
  adverb
• overlearnedly
  adverb
• well-learned
  adjective
• overlearnedness
  noun
• learnedness
  noun
• overlearned
  adjective
• half-learned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of learned

First recorded in 1300–50, learned is from the Middle English word lerned. See learn, -ed ²

Explanation

If you're learned (pronounced LUR-ned), you're highly educated, or you have or show a profound knowledge of some kind. The adjective learned comes from the verb learn. You can use it either to describe someone as having a lot of education, like the learned shopkeeper who used to tell you about the Trojan War while you picked out your candy, or to describe something that doesn't come naturally, but has to be learned (in which case it's pronounced LURND). If you reward your dog when she howls, then her howling will become a learned (LURND) behavior.

Example Sentences

Now we learnèd of mind add ourselves to the crowd That cheers on the Domhnall, the best of MacLeod!

From Slate • Jan. 26, 2017

In every public virtue we excel; We build, we paint, we sing, we dance as well, And learnèd Athens to our art must stoop, Could she behold us tumbling through a hoop.

From The Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Volume 1 by Gilfillan, George

So Ben, while Robin chose to roam,A rising chemist was at home,Tended his shop with learnèd air,Watered his drugs and oiled his hair,And gave advice to the unwary,Like any sleek apothecary.

From Moral Emblems by Stevenson, Robert Louis

I who was learnèd in death's lore Oft held her to my heart And spoke of days when we should love no more— In the long dust, apart.

From Song-Surf by Rice, Cale Young

Say, Man, deep learnèd in the Scheme    that orders mysteries sublime, How came it this was Jesus, that    was Judas from the birth of Time?

From The Kasidah of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir

Related Words

• accomplished
• educated
• scholarly
• scientific
• studied
• well-educated