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Learn vs Overlearn - What's the difference?

learn | overlearn |

As verbs the difference between learn and overlearn

is that learn is to acquire, or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something or learn can be while overlearn is to learn (something) more than is necessary; to study excessively, to take (something) too much to heart.

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)
    Related terms
    * (l) * (l)

    References

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

    Anagrams

    * * English irregular verbs 1000 English basic words ----

    overlearn

    English

    Alternative forms

    *over-learn

    Verb

  • To learn (something) more than is necessary; to study excessively, to take (something) too much to heart.
  • *2010 , "An own goal on gay rights", The Economist , 14 Oct 2010:
  • *:Why the rigmarole of a military survey before enacting a measure most Americans already favoured? Maybe he over-learned the lesson of the clobbering Bill Clinton got when he barged into this area right at the start of his presidency.
  • (psychology, education) To learn (something) to the point where responses become instinctive.
  • (modeling) Mostly when talking about neural networks, to learn a task to the point where responses actually start to degrade. Compare with overfit , in model tuning contexts.