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Able vs Learned - What's the difference?

able | learned |

As adjectives the difference between able and learned

is that able is (obsolete|passive) easy to use while learned is (poetic).

As a verb able

is (obsolete) to make ready .

As a noun able

is a word that is used in place of the letter "a" during communication.

able

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete) hable

Etymology 1

From (etyl), from .

Adjective

(er)
  • (obsolete, passive) Easy to use.
  • * 1710 , Thomas Betterton, The life of Mr. Thomas Betterton, the late eminent tragedian. :
    • As the hands are the most habil parts of the body...
  • (obsolete, passive) Suitable; competent.
  • * 2006 , Jon L. Wakelyn, America's Founding Charters: Primary Documents of Colonial and Revolutionary Era Governance, Volume 1 , Greenwood Publishing Group, pages 212:
    • ...and for every able man servant that he or she shall carry or send armed and provided as aforesaid, ninety acres of land of like measure.
  • (obsolete, dialectal, passive) Liable to.
  • Having the necessary powers or the needed resources to accomplish a task.
  • Free from constraints preventing completion of task; permitted to; not prevented from.
    • I’ll see you as soon as I’m able .
    With that obstacle removed, I am now able to proceed with my plan.
    I’m only able to visit you when I have other work here.
    That cliff is able to be climbed.
  • (obsolete, dialectal) Having the physical strength; robust; healthy.
    • After the past week of forced marches, only half the men are fully able .
  • (obsolete) Rich; well-to-do.
    • He was born to an able family.
  • Gifted with skill, intelligence, knowledge, or competence.
    • The chairman was also an able sailor.
  • (legal) Legally]] [[qualify, qualified or competent.
    • He is able to practice law in six states.
  • (nautical) Capable of performing all the requisite duties; as an able seaman.
    • Synonyms
    * See also
    Derived terms
    * ability * -able * able-bodied * able seaman * ableism * be able, be able to * capable * disable * disabled * disablism * disability * enable

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) ablen, from (etyl) able (adjective).

    Verb

    (abl)
  • (obsolete) To make ready.
  • (obsolete) To make capable; to enable.
  • (obsolete) To dress.
  • (obsolete) To give power to; to reinforce; to confirm.
  • (obsolete) To vouch for; to guarantee.
  • * vi
    • None does offend, none....I’ll able ’em.
    Derived terms
    * abled

    Etymology 3

    Noun

    (-)
  • A word that is used in place of the letter "A" during communication.

    • Statistics

    *

    References

    Anagrams

    * ----

    learned

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) lerned, from (etyl)

    Verb

    (head)
  • (US) (learn): taught

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • 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 [...].
  • * {{quote-magazine
    • , year=2011 , month=Feb , author=Jess Lourey , coauthors= , title=A Pyramid Approach to Novel Writing , volume=124 , issue=2 , page=30-32 , magazine=Writer , passage=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. }}
  • * {{quote-magazine
    • , year=2011 , month=Spring , author=Jill Lepore , coauthors= , title=How Longfellow Woke the Dead , volume=80 , issue=2 , page=33-46 , magazine=American Scholar , passage=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)
    Alternative forms
    *
    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 , 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
    Antonyms
    * (having little knowledge) ignorant, stupid, thick, uneducated
    Derived terms
    * learnedly * learnedness

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Alternative forms

    * learnt

    Verb

    (head)
  • (learn)

    • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Derived from experience; acquired by learning.
    • Everyday behavior is an overlay of learned behavior over instinct.

    Statistics

    *

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    * * English heteronyms