Unnumbered source etymology
Original entry ↗The act of learning something.
To acquire, or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something. · To attend a course or other educational activity. · To gain knowledge from a bad experience so as to improve. · To study.
From Middle English lernen (“to learn", also, "to teach"”), from Old English leornian (“to learn", rarely also, "to teach”), from Proto-West Germanic *liʀnōn, from Proto-Germanic *lizaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(le-)lóys-e, stative from the root *leys- (“track, furrow, trace, trail”). The spelling with ⟨ea⟩ is of Early Modern English origin and reflects a lengthening of /ɛ~e/ to /eː/ before /rn/ in Late Old English or Early Middle English, then later lowering to /ɛː/; the modern pronunciation reflects still later reshortening. The dialect form with /ɑː/ reflects the Middle English pronunciation which either retained the short /ɛ/ or reshortened it earlier, enabling the a development to /a/ before /r/ which yielded modern /ɑː/. Cognate with Old Frisian lernia, lerna (“to learn”), Middle Low German lernen (“to learn", also, "to teach”), Middle Dutch leernen (“to learn", also, "to teach”) (whence Dutch lernen (“to study scripture”)), German lernen (“to learn”). See also lore and lear.
Relationships mentioned by the source
These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.
- Inherited-form mentionlernenenm · to learn", also, "to teach"
- Inherited-form mentionleornianang · to learn", rarely also, "to teach
- Inherited-form mention*liʀnōngmw-pro
- Inherited-form mention*lizanągem-pro
- Cognate mentionlerniaofs
- Cognate mentionlernengml · to learn", also, "to teach
- Cognate mentionleernendum · to learn", also, "to teach
- Cognate mentionlernennl · to study scripture
- Cognate mentionlernende · to learn
This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.
Inspect preserved source fields
Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.
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