PERMANENT SOURCE RECORD
ALL SOURCES ↗BIBLIOGRAPHIC IDENTITYmw-lesson
SOURCE
RECORD.
One work. Every claim that depends on it. No citation without a consequence you can inspect.
15 PUBLIC LINKS INTO THE GRAPH.
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historical dictionarymw-lesson
Lesson — Definition and Word History
- AUTHOR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
- YEAR
- 2026
- PUBLISHER
- Merriam-Webster
- DOI
- Not recorded
- SOURCE TYPE
- historical dictionary
- EXTERNAL RECORD
- OPEN ORIGINAL ↗
011
CONTRARIAN TRUTH CLAIMS
RANKED REVEALS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
RANK 203GRADE Asupports
A lesson began as a reading.
Anglo-French leçon and Late Latin lectio name reading before the word expands into instruction and something learned from experience.
*leǵ-
*leǵ- → legere → lectiō → leçon → lesson / lessoun → lesson
Word History: Etymology and current sensesTraces lesson through lectio “reading” and documents instructional extensions.
lesson dossier ↗truth record ↗79UNVEILING
022
SCHOLARLY DISAGREEMENT
DISPUTE POSITIONS THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
resolvedsupportsestablished
Did lesson originally mean a spoken class?
Its secure ancestry points first to reading: Anglo-French leçon and Late Latin lectio, an act or selection of reading from legere. Instruction and learned-experience senses develop from that base.
Word History: Etymology and current sensesTraces lesson through lectio and legere while retaining reading and instruction senses.
resolvedcontextestablished
Is select descended from English lecture or lesson?
No. The English words are cousins. Select comes from Latin selectus and seligere; lecture and lesson take other Latin formations that independently reach legere.
Word History: EtymologyShows lesson as a separate lectio branch from the same Latin verb.
034
CANONICAL RELATIONSHIP CLAIMS
EDGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
EDGE 260supportsestablished
lesson → lesson / lessoun
Present-Day English → Middle English · historical continuation
- SOUND
- Modern lesson continues the Middle English form with spelling stabilization.
- MEANING
- A reading or assigned text expands into instruction and then something learned from experience.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Definitions and Word HistoryDocuments reading, instruction, and learned-experience senses in the English word.
EDGE 261supportsestablished
lesson / lessoun → leçon
Middle English → Anglo-French · borrowing
- SOUND
- Middle English lesson or lessoun adapts Anglo-French leçon.
- MEANING
- The reading and instructional senses remain connected.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word History: EtymologyTraces Middle English lesson to Anglo-French leçon.
EDGE 262supportsestablished
leçon → lectiō
Anglo-French → Latin · borrowing
- SOUND
- Anglo-French leçon continues Late Latin lectiō through regular Romance sound and spelling development.
- MEANING
- An act or selection of reading remains the source of the lesson sense.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word History: EtymologyTraces Anglo-French leçon to Late Latin lection-, lectio.
EDGE 263supportsestablished
lectiō → legere
Latin → Latin · derivation
- SOUND
- Latin lectiō is formed from the reading stem associated with legere.
- MEANING
- The act of gathering or selecting develops into reading, then a reading passage.
- SCHOLAR / EDITOR
- Merriam-Webster Editors
Word History: EtymologyDerives lectio from Latin legere “to read.”
041
LEXICAL ATTESTATIONS
WITNESSES REPORTED BY THIS SOURCE
lessonSOURCE-REPORTED
lesson
Merriam-Webster first-known-use record for lesson
OPEN WITNESS 57 ↗053
COMPARATIVE EVIDENCE
COGNATES, DESCENDANTS, AND RELATIVES
064
GEOGRAPHIC AND TEMPORAL CLAIMS
JOURNEY STAGES THAT CITE THIS SOURCE
stage 1supports
Latin reading culture
Derives lesson through lectio from legere “to read.”
Word History: Etymology · broadstage 2supports
Anglo-French transmission
Documents the Anglo-French-to-Middle-English borrowing route.
Word History: Etymology · broadstage 3supports
England
Reports the English noun in the thirteenth century.
First Known Use · regionalstage 4supports
Global English
Documents reading, assigned study, instruction, and learned-experience senses.
Current definitions and Kids Definition · global070
NON-GENEALOGICAL CONNECTIONS
HISTORICAL CONTEXT, KEPT SEPARATE
No non-genealogical context link currently cites this source.
082
WORD-FAMILY REUSE
DOSSIERS THAT DEPEND ON THIS SOURCE
4 entry-scoped citations map reviewed dossier paths onto the canonical claims above.