learned

See also: Learned and learnèd

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English lerned, lernd, lernyd, equivalent to learn +‎ -ed, which replaced the earlier lered (“taught”), from Old English (ġe)lǣred, past participle of lǣran (“to teach”). Learn formerly had the meaning “to teach”, which is now found only in nonstandard speech, as well as its standard meaning of “to learn”.

Alternative forms

• learnèd

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɜːnɪd/
• IPA^(key): /ˈlɝnɪd/

Adjective

learned (comparative more learned, superlative most learned)

1. Having much learning, knowledgeable, erudite; highly educated.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.iii:

     the learned Merlin, well could tell, / Vnder what coast of heauen the man did dwell […]

   • 1854, Charles Edward Pollock, Lake v. Plaxton, 156 Eng. Rep. 412 (Exch.) 414; 10 Ex. 199, 200 (Eng.)

     My learned Brother Cresswell directed the jury to make the calculation […]

   • 2011 Feb, Jess Lourey, “A Pyramid Approach to Novel Writing”, in Writer, volume 124, number 2, pages 30-32:

     The book opens with the Time Traveler dining with learned peers in late 1800s England, where he is trying to convince them that he has invented a time machine.

   • 2011 Spring, Jill Lepore, “How Longfellow Woke the Dead”, in American Scholar, volume 80, number 2, pages 33-46:

     HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW used to be both the best-known poet in the English-speaking world and the most beloved, adored by the learned and the lowly ...

   "My learned friend" (a formal, courteous description of a lawyer, confined to use by lawyers in court to describe their colleagues), and ("The honourable and learned member") by MPs in Parliament to refer to colleagues who are lawyers)

2. scholarly (exhibiting scholarship)
   • 1831 March, anonymous author, “The History of the Doric Race”, in The Edinburgh Review, volume LIII, number CV (book review), page 130:

     But our limits will not permit us to discuss the many important and curious questions respecting the science of government, to which this learned work invites attention.

Usage notes

• This adjectival sense of this word is sometimes spelled with a grave accent. This is meant to indicate that the second ‘e’ is pronounced as /ɪ/ or /ə/, rather than being silent, as in the verb form. This usage is largely restricted to poetry and other works in which it is important that the adjective’s disyllabicity be made explicit.

Synonyms

• (having much knowledge): brainy, erudite, knowledgeable, scholarly, educated
• See also Thesaurus:learned

Antonyms

• (having little knowledge): ignorant, stupid, thick, uneducated

Derived terms

terms derived from learned (having much knowledge)

• learnedly
• learnedness
• learned counsel
• learned judge

• learned member
• learned professions
• learned treatise

Translations

having much learning

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 博學／博学 (zh) (bóxué), 博学 (zh) (bóxué), 有學問／有学问 (zh) (yǒuxuéwèn), 有学问 (zh) (yǒu xuéwèn)

• Czech: učený (cs) m
• Dutch: geleerd (nl)
• Finnish: oppinut (fi)
• French: érudit (fr), savant (fr), instruit (fr)
• Georgian: სწავლული (sc̣avluli)
• German: gelehrt (de)
• Greek: λόγιος (el) m (lógios), πολυμαθής (el) m or f (polymathís), εγγράμματος (el) m (engrámmatos)
• Hungarian: tanult (hu), művelt (hu), tudós (hu)
• Interlingua: docte, erudite
• Irish: léannta
• Italian: colto (it), dotto (it), istruito (it) m, erudito (it) m, letterato (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 박식한 (baksikhan)
• Latin: doctus (la), ērudītus m, litterātus m
• Macedonian: учен m (učen)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lærd (no)

  Nynorsk: lærd

• Portuguese: douto (pt) m, erudito (pt) m, instruído (pt) m, sábio (pt) m, culto (pt) m
• Romanian: învățat (ro) m or n, erudit (ro) m
• Russian: учёный (ru) (učónyj), эруди́рованный (ru) (erudírovannyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: ionnsaichte, foghlaimte, iùlmhor, sgoilearach, fiosrach
• Serbo-Croatian: naučen (sh), učen (sh), načitan (sh)
• Slovak: učený m
• Spanish: erudito (es) m, leído (es) m
• Swedish: bildad (sv), beläst (sv), kultiverad (sv), lärd (sv)

scholarly — see scholarly

Etymology 2

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old English leornian (“to acquire knowledge”)

Alternative forms

• learnt (UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; rarely used in American English)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɜːnd/
• enPR: lûrnd, IPA^(key): /lɝnd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

learned

1. (US and dialectal English) simple past and past participle of learn

Adjective

learned (comparative more learned, superlative most learned)

1. Derived from experience; acquired by learning.

   Everyday behavior is an overlay of learned behavior over instinct.

Translations

acquired by learning

• Czech: naučený m
• Dutch: geleerd (nl), aangeleerd (nl)
• Finnish: opittu (fi)
• French: appris (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: tanult (hu)
• Macedonian: научен m (naučen)
• Russian: нау́чный (ru) (naúčnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} enseigné (fr), ^{(please verify)} instruit (fr)
• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} belajar (id)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: ^{(please verify)} 学んだ (まなんだ, mananda), ^{(please verify)} 勉強した (ja) (べんきょうした, benkyō-shita), ^{(please verify)} 学習した (ja) (がくしゅうした, gakushū-shita)

Further reading

• “learned”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “learned”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Darleen, Darlene, Leander