lesson

English

Etymology

From Middle English lessoun, from Old French leçon, from Latin lēctiō, lēctiōnem (“a reading”), from legō (“I read, I gather”). Doublet of lection.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɛsn̩/
• Homophone: lessen
• Hyphenation: les‧son

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛsən

Noun

lesson (plural lessons)

1. A section of learning or teaching into which a wider learning content is divided.

   In our school a typical working week consists of around twenty lessons and ten hours of related laboratory work.

2. A learning task assigned to a student; homework.
3. Something learned or to be learned.

   Nature has many lessons to teach to us.

4. Something that serves as a warning or encouragement.

   I hope this accident taught you a lesson!

   The accident was a good lesson to me.

5. A section of the Bible or other religious text read as part of a divine service.

   Here endeth the first lesson.

6. A severe lecture; reproof; rebuke; warning.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Sir Philip Sidney

     She would give her a lesson for walking so late.

   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:

     The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; […] . Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.

7. (music) An exercise; a composition serving an educational purpose; a study.

Synonyms

• lear
• (religious reading): lection

Derived terms

• life lesson

• object lesson

• teach someone a lesson

Related terms

• lectern

• lection

• lecture

Translations

section of learning or teaching

• Albanian: mësim (sq) m
• Arabic: دَرْس‎‎ (ar) (dars)

  Egyptian Arabic: درس‎‎ m (dars)

• Armenian: դաս (hy) (das)
• Azerbaijani: dərs (az), ibrət
• Baluchi: سبک‎‎ (sabak), سبق‎‎ (sabaq), درس‎‎ (dars)
• Bashkir: дәрес (däres), (rare) һабаҡ (habaq)
• Basque: ikasgai
• Belarusian: уро́к m (urók), ўрок m (ŭrok), ле́кцыя f (ljékcyja)
• Bengali: শিক্ষা (bn) (śikkha), পাঠ (paṭh)
• Breton: kentel (br) f
• Bulgarian: уро́к (bg) m (urók)
• Burmese: သင်ခန်းစာ (my) (sanghkan:ca)
• Catalan: lliçó (ca) f
• Chechen: дарс (dars)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 課業 (zh), 课业 (zh) (kèyè), -課 (zh), -课 (zh) (-kè) (suffix)

• Czech: lekce (cs), vyučovací hodina
• Danish: lektie c
• Dutch: les (nl)
• Esperanto: leciono
• Estonian: õppetund
• Finnish: oppitunti (fi), luento (fi)
• French: leçon (fr) f
• Friulian: lezion f, lizion f
• Georgian: გაკვეთილი (gaḳvetili)
• German: Lehrstunde f, Stunde (de) f, Lektion (de) f, Unterricht (de) m
• Greek: μάθημα (el) n (máthima)

  Ancient Greek: μάθημα n (máthēma)

• Hawaiian: haʻawina
• Hebrew: שיעור \ שִׁעוּר‎‎ (he) m (shi'úr)
• Hindi: पाठ (hi) m (pāṭh), सबक़ m (sabaq)
• Hungarian: lecke (hu)
• Icelandic: kennslustund f
• Indonesian: pelajaran (id)
• Interlingua: lection
• Irish: ceacht m
• Italian: lezione (it) f
• Japanese: 授業 (ja) (じゅぎょう, jugyō), 学科 (ja) (がっか, gakka), 課 (ja) (-か, -ka) (suffix), レッスン (ressun)
• Kalmyk: кичәл (kiçäl)
• Kazakh: сабақ (kk) (sabaq), дәріс (däris)
• Khmer: មេរៀន (mee riən)
• Korean: 수업 (ko) (sueop), -과 (ko) (gwa) (suffix)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ده‌رس‎‎ (ku) (ders)

• Kyrgyz: сабак (ky) (sabak), дарыс (ky) (darıs)
• Lao: ບົດຮຽນ (lo) (bot hīan)
• Latin: documentum n, auditio f
• Latvian: mācība f, stunda f

• Lithuanian: pamoka (lt) f
• Luxembourgish: Stonn f, Lektioun f
• Macedonian: лекција f (lekcija)
• Malay: pengajaran, pelajaran
• Manx: lessoon m
• Maori: akoranga
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Ngazidja Comorian: darasa class 9/10
• Norman: léçon f (Jersey), leçaon f (Guernsey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lekse f, m, undervisningstime m

  Nynorsk: lekse f, undervisingstime m

• Occitan: leiçon f, lecçon f
• Pashto: درس‎‎ (ps) m (dars), لوست‎‎ m (lwǝst), سبق‎‎ (ps) m (sabáq)
• Persian: درس‎‎ (fa) (dars)
• Polish: lekcja (pl) f
• Portuguese: lição (pt) f
• Romanian: lecție (ro) f
• Russian: уро́к (ru) m (urók), ле́кция (ru) f (lékcija) (lecture)
• Sanskrit: पाठ (sa) m (pāṭha)
• Scottish Gaelic: leasan m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лекција f

  Roman: lekcija (sh) f

• Slovak: lekcia f
• Slovene: lekcija f
• Spanish: lección (es) f
• Swahili: funzo (sw)
• Swedish: lektion (sv) c
• Tajik: дарс (tg) (dars)
• Tatar: дәрес (tt) (däres), гыйбрәт (tt) (ğıybrät)
• Telugu: పాఠం (te) (pāṭhaṃ)
• Thai: บทเรียน (bòt-riian)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: ders (tr), çimke (tr), sebak (tr)
• Turkmen: sapak, ders
• Tuvan: кичээл (kïčääl)
• Ukrainian: уро́к m (urók), ле́кція f (lékcija)
• Urdu: درس‎‎ (dars), سبق‎‎ m (sabaq)
• Uyghur: دەرس‎‎ (ders)
• Uzbek: dars (uz), saboq (uz)
• Vietnamese: bài (vi), bài học (vi)
• Volapük: lärnod (vo)
• Welsh: gwers (cy) f
• White Hmong: please add this translation if you can
• Yiddish: אויפֿגאַבע‎‎ f (oyfgabe), לעקציע‎‎ f (lektsye)
• Zhuang: please add this translation if you can

learning task assigned to a student

• Armenian: դաս (hy) (das)
• Bashkir: дәрес (däres), (homework) өйгә эш (öygä eš)
• Finnish: läksy (fi), kotitehtävä (fi), tehtävä (fi)
• French: leçon (fr) f, devoirs (fr) m pl
• Greek: μαθήματα (el) n pl (mathímata), εργασία (el) f (ergasía), άσκηση (el) f (áskisi)
• Hawaiian: haʻawina
• Hebrew: שיעורים‎‎ m (shiorim)
• Hindi: पाठ (hi) m (pāṭh)
• Irish: ceacht m
• Kalmyk: кичәл (kiçäl)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ده‌رس‎‎ (ku) (ders)

• Latin: auditio f
• Manx: lessoon m
• Maori: akoranga
• Persian: تکلیف‎‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: lição (pt) f, tarefa (pt) f
• Russian: уро́к (ru) m (urók)
• Scottish Gaelic: leasan m
• Swahili: somo (sw)
• Swedish: läxa (sv) c
• Telugu: పాఠం (te) (pāṭhaṃ)
• Tuvan: кичээл (kïčääl)

something learned

• Arabic: دَرْس‎‎ (ar) m (dars)
• Armenian: դաս (hy) (das)
• Bashkir: һабаҡ (habaq)
• Czech: ponaučení
• Finnish: opetus (fi)
• French: leçon (fr) f
• German: Lehre (de) f
• Greek: δίδαγμα (el) n (dídagma), μάθημα (el) n (máthima)
• Hebrew: מוסר השכל‎‎ (he) m (Musar Haskel), לקח‎‎ (he) m (Leqach)
• Irish: ceacht m
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ده‌رس‎‎ (ku) (ders)

• Latin: documentum n, auditio f

• Luxembourgish: Léier f
• Manx: lessoon m
• Maori: akoranga
• Portuguese: lição (pt)
• Romanian: lecție (ro)
• Russian: уро́к (ru) m (urók)
• Scottish Gaelic: leasan m
• Swahili: funzo (sw)
• Swedish: läxa (sv) c
• Tuvan: кичээл (kïčääl)
• Vietnamese: bài học (vi)
• Volapük: lärnod (vo)

something that serves as a warning or encouragement

• Armenian: դաս (hy) (das)
• Basque: eskarmentu
• Czech: ponaučení
• Finnish: läksy (fi), opetus (fi)
• French: leçon (fr) f
• German: Lehre (de) f
• Greek: μάθημα (el) n (máthima)
• Hebrew: לקח‎‎ (he) m (lékakh)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: ده‌رس‎‎ (ku) (ders)

• Latin: documentum n, auditio
• Luxembourgish: Léier f
• Manx: lessoon m

• Maori: iro (an unpleasant experience)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lærepenge m

  Nynorsk: lærepenge m

• Portuguese: lição (pt) f
• Romanian: lecție (ro)
• Russian: уро́к (ru) m (urók)
• Scottish Gaelic: leasan m
• Swahili: funzo (sw)
• Swedish: läxa (sv) c
• Turkish: ibret (tr)
• Vietnamese: bài học (vi)

section of the Bible or other religious text read as part of a divine service

• Finnish: sana (fi)
• Irish: ceacht m

• Maori: tuhinga
• Swahili: funzo (sw)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Old Occitan: ^{(please verify)} leyçon

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} lección (es) f

Verb

lesson (third-person singular simple present lessons, present participle lessoning, simple past and past participle lessoned)

1. To give a lesson to; to teach.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.vi:

     her owne daughter Pleasure, to whom shee / Made her companion, and her lessoned / In all the lore of loue, and goodly womanhead.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Byron

     To rest the weary, and to soothe the sad, / Doth lesson happier men, and shame at least the bad.

Translations

to give a lesson; to teach

• Finnish: opettaa (fi)

• Greek: διδάσκω (el) (didásko), δασκαλεύω (el) (daskalévo)

See also

• lesson on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• lesson in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.

Anagrams

• Elsons, Slones, no less, nosels, nosles, solens

---

Middle English

Noun

lesson

1. Alternative form of lessoun