| 释义 |
unˈlearn, v.
[un-2 3. Cf. MDu. ont-, onleren, older Fl. ontleeren, MLG. and G. entleren.]
1. trans. To discard from knowledge or memory; to give up knowledge of (something).
In very frequent use from c 1630.
c1450tr. De Imitatione i. xi. 12 Withstonde þyne inclinacion & unlerne evel custom. 1547Baldwin Mor. Philos. (1551) N iij, The best kynde of learnynge is to vnlearne our euyls. 1575T. Vautrollier Luther on Ep. Gal. 188 It is to vs no lesse labour to vnlearne and forget the same. 1612Brinsley Lud. Lit. (1627) 9 Those things which are hurtfull,..they must bee taught to vnlearne againe. 1686W. de Britaine Hum. Prud. i. 2 The most necessary learning for mans life, is to unlearn that which is nought and vain. 1779Mirror No. 12, As they have learned many foreign, so have they unlearned some of the..best understood home phrases. 1813Shelley Q. Mab iii. 6 Thou hast given A boon which I will not resign, and taught A lesson not to be unlearned. 1866Bryce Holy Rom. Emp. xviii. 363 The habits of centuries were not to be unlearnt in a few years.
b. absol., or const. with inf.
1530Palsgr. 768/2 It is a payne to lerne thynges, but a man may unlerne by goyng a huntyng. 1584Lyly Campaspe ii. ii, Alex. How should one learn to be content? Diog. Vnlearn to couet. 1631P. Fletcher Piscatory Eclog. iii. xi, How canst unlearn by learning to forget it? 1649F. Roberts Clavis Bibl. 351 In these I learn to shun sin, I un-learn to blush at repentance for offences. 1799Monthly Rev. XXX. 120 According to an axiom founded on daily experience, to unlearn and forget are very difficult. 1823Monthly Mag. LVI. 125 It is..long since the Romans have unlearned to conquer. 1868Lowell Parting of the Ways 59 That way lies Youth, and Wisdom,..For only by unlearning Wisdom comes.
2. To unteach.
1664Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 7 [The microscope] wil ocularly evince and unlearn them their opinions. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) V. 495 Legal learning..can never have unlearnt a man the difference between three and one and a half. 1863Susan Warner Old Helmet v, I must unlearn you a little of your kindness. 1893Harper's Mag. Dec. 61/2 He's jest said what I've been a⁓learnin' 'im... But he's got to be unlearned.
Hence unˈlearning vbl. n.
1713Steele Englishm. No. 7. 46 Art is only the unlearning of what is unnatural. 1873E. H. Thompson Baron de Rendy ii. 43 A school for the unlearning of every Christian..feeling of compassion. |