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Learn vs Learning - What's the difference?

learn | learning |

As verbs the difference between learn and learning

is that learn is to acquire, or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something while learning is present participle of lang=en.

As a noun learning is

an act in which something is learned.

learn

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) lernen, from (etyl) . Compare (etyl) lernen.

Verb

  • To acquire, or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something.
  • To attend a course or other educational activity.
  • * 1719 ,
  • For, as he took delight to introduce me, I took delight to learn.
  • To gain knowledge from a bad experience.
  • learn from one's mistakes
  • To be studying.
  • To come to know; to become informed of; to find out.
  • He just learned that he will be sacked.
    Usage notes
    * See other, dated and regional, sense of below.
    Synonyms
    * (l)
    Antonyms
    * (l) * (l)
    Derived terms
    * (l) * (l)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) . Compare Dutch leren, German (m).

    Verb

  • *:
  • *:And whan she had serched hym / she fond in the bottome of his wound that therin was poyson / And soo she heled hym/ and therfore Tramtrist cast grete loue to la beale Isoud / for she was at that tyme the fairest mayde and lady of the worlde / And there Tramtryst lerned her to harpe / and she beganne to haue grete fantasye vnto hym
  • *1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) ,
  • *:Sweet prince, you learn me noble thankfulness.
  • *circa 1611 , (William Shakespeare), (Cymbeline), :
  • *:Have I not been / Thy pupil long? Hast thou not learn’d me how / To make perfumes?
  • *1993 , The Simpsons , (18 Feb. 1993) Lisa's thoughts:
  • *:That'll learn him to bust my tomater.
  • Usage notes
    Now often considered non-standard.
    Derived terms
    * (l)

    References

    * * * Family Word Finder Readers Digest Association Inc. NY 1975

    learning

    English

    Verb

    (head)
  • I'm learning to ride a unicycle.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (uncountable) An act in which something is learned.
  • Learning to ride a unicycle sounds exciting.
  • (uncountable) Accumulated knowledge.
  • The department head was also a scholar of great learning .
  • (countable) Something that has been learned
  • * {{quote-news, year=2007, date=April 5, author=Stuart Elliott, title=Online Experiment for Print Magazine, work=New York Times citation
  • , passage=“We’ll take the learnings and apply them to the rest of our business.” }}

    Usage notes

    Countable sense “thing learned” often used in plural form (m); see for details.

    Derived terms

    * book-learning * higher learning * learning curve * learning disability * learning by doing