- someone who is learning something; beginner
- (in South Africa) a school pupil
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026
learn•er
(lûr′nər),USA pronunciation n.
- a person who is learning;
student;
pupil;
apprentice;
trainee.
- bef. 1000; Middle English lerner(e), Old English leornere; see learn, -er1
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
learner /ˈlɜːnə/ n
learn /lɜrn/USA pronunciation
v., learned /lɜrnd/USA pronunciation or learnt/lɜrnt/USA pronunciation learn•ing.
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026v.
- to gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, instruction, or experience: [~ + object]to learn a new language.[~ + (how) to + verb]Where did you learn (how) to throw a ball like that?[no object]She learns quickly.
- to become informed of or acquainted with;
find out: [~ + object]to learn the truth.[~ + (that) clause]I learned that he was a sailor only last week.[~ + about/of + object]When did you learn about his past? - to memorize:[~ + object]He learned the poem in ten minutes.
- to gain by experience, exposure to example, or the like:[~ + object]She learned patience from her father.
- Slang Terms[Nonstandard.]to teach:[~ + object + object]learned him a lesson he won't forget.
learn
(lûrn),USA pronunciation v., learned (lûrnd)USA pronunciation or learnt, learn•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
learn′a•ble, adj.
v.t.
- to acquire knowledge of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience:to learn French; to learn to ski.
- to become informed of or acquainted with;
ascertain:to learn the truth. - to memorize:He learned the poem so he could recite it at the dinner.
- to gain (a habit, mannerism, etc.) by experience, exposure to example, or the like;
acquire:She learned patience from her father. - Computing(of a device or machine, esp. a computer) to perform an analogue of human learning with artificial intelligence.
- Slang Terms[Nonstandard.]to instruct in;
teach.
v.i.
- to acquire knowledge or skill:to learn rapidly.
- to become informed (usually fol. by of ):to learn of an accident.
- bef. 900; Middle English lernen, Old English leornian to learn, read, ponder (cognate with German lernen); akin to lesan to glean (cognate with German lesen to read). See lear
- 1. Learn, ascertain, detect, discover imply adding to one's store of facts. To learn is to add to one's knowledge or information:to learn a language.To ascertain is to verify facts by inquiry or analysis:to ascertain the truth about an event.To detect implies becoming aware of something that had been obscure, secret, or concealed:to detect a flaw in reasoning.To discover is used with objective clauses as a synonym of learn in order to suggest that the new information acquired is surprising to the learner:I discovered that she had been married before.
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'learner' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
L
- L-plate
- apprentice
- backward
- error analysis
- fossilize
- learn
- patience
- tyro
- source language
