learnedadj.
/ˈləːnᵻd/, U.S. /ˈlərnəd/ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > knowledge, what is known > familiarity > [adjective]
couthOE
known1340
familiara1398
unstrangec1400
learnedc1420
conversant1430
beknown?c1475
well-beknown1480
quentc1540
well-kent1554
quainted1560
well-known1568
obversant1579
conversed1607
tame1609
familiarized1633
intimatea1680
household1761
homely1782
ole1835
old1898
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. v. 121 This mone also, by rather lerned reson [L. ea ratione qua dictum est] To sette and graffe in places temporate Pomgarnat is.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. vii. sig. E6 The error committed..becomes a sharply learned experience.
1714 Tickell Fragm. Hunting in Steele Poet. Misc. 179 [A hound] True to the Master's Voice, and learned Horn.
2.
a. Of a person: In early use, that has been taught; instructed, educated. In later use with narrowed sense: Having profound knowledge gained by study, esp. in language or some department of literary or historical science; deeply-read, erudite. Const. in, †of. (Superseding the earlier lered adj.) learned society: a society formed for the prosecution of some branch of learning or science.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > [adjective] > educated or taught
taughta1382
learnedc1384
instructc1425
induct1481
informeda1500
educate?1533
instructed1552
schooled1557
educated1569
trained?1591
teached1639
scholared1830
formed1833
educationized1835
indoctrinated1870
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > [adjective]
yleredc897
keena1000
wisec1000
leredc1154
wittya1225
cunningc1325
taughta1382
clergialc1386
wittilyc1400
philosophicala1425
erudite?a1475
clergyable1488
informeda1500
studieda1513
estudied1550
learned1556
well-read?1576
scholarly1583
scholarlike1588
well-digested1602
literated1611
artificial1618
scienced1636
clerk-like1638
scollardicall1654
philosophic1665
virtuosoa1667
virtuousa1680
doct1694
blue-stockinged1791
bluestocking1793
scholared1830
eruditical1832
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > intellectual command, mastery > [adjective]
well-learedeOE
well-learned1425
ripe1458
well-informeda1500
well-studied1530
travailed1551
great1552
learned1556
read1574
well-read1574
long on1875
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > learned person, scholar > [noun] > learned association
learned societya1680
Athenaeum1807
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds vii. 22 And Moyses was lernd [a1425 L.V. lerned] in al the wysdom of Egipcians.
c1460 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) l. 10416 This lady was of muche price lovid and lernyd [a1400 Vesp. lered] ware and wyse.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 3940 Eneas..was..of litterure & langage lurnyt ynoghe.
1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 48 The byshoppe of Wynchester, with dyvers other byshoppes & lernede men.
1639 T. Fuller Hist. Holy Warre iii. xxix. 161 He was very learned..especially for a Prince, who onely baiteth at learning.
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 1 A Learn'd Society of late..Agree'd..To search the Moon by her own light.
1698 J. Keill Exam. Theory Earth (1734) 312 That very Learned Friend of his..has given the World reason enough to suspect him.
1712 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 488 He was learned in the British tongue.
1772 ‘Junius’ Stat Nominis Umbra II. lxviii. 310 Learned..you are, and quick in apprehension.
1798 Philos. Mag. 1 95 (title) Intelligence. Learned Societies.
1810 W. Scott Misc. Prose Wks. (1870) IV. 202 That dreaded phenomenon, a learned lady.
1823 I. D'Israeli Curiosities of Lit. 2nd Ser. I. 5 He is a ‘learned’ writer who has embraced most knowledge on the particular subject of his investigation.
1823 W. Scott One Volume More John Pinkerton next, and I'm truly concern'd..I can't call that worthy so candid as learn'd.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess vii. 158 Not learned, save in gracious household ways.
1863 N. Hawthorne Our Old Home I. 187 This bewildered enthusiast had recognized a depth in the man whom she decried, which scholars, critics, and learned societies, devoted to the elucidation of his unrivalled scenes, had never imagined to exist there.
1871 C. Davies Metric Syst. ii. 40 A system..made..by a committee of learned professors.
1897 W. James Will to Believe 306 All our learned societies have begun in some such modest way.
1898 H. Calderwood D. Hume vi. 85 The learned circles of Paris.
1958 Observer 13 July 3/7 The battle of the learned societies with the Inland Revenue.
1973 LSA Bull. Mar. 28 He defined a learned society as one which publishes a journal and holds an annual meeting; a professional society as one which is involved in matters of concern to its members.
b. absol. Chiefly in plural the learned = learned people, the ‘literati’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > learned person, scholar > [noun] > collectively
lettereda1382
learneda1568
virtuoso1613
literati1620
educated1672
clerisya1834
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) i. f. 11 This, lewde and learned, by common experience, know.
1591 E. Spenser Teares of Muses in Complaints 216 Each idle wit..doth the Learneds taske upon him take.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 768 Sundry ceremonies, which I leaue to the learned in Christian antiquities.
1684 J. Dryden Prol. Univ. Oxf. in Misc. Poems 264 The Learn'd in Schools..Studies with Care th' Anatomy of Man.
1736 Visct. Bolingbroke Lett. Study Hist. v. (1777) 122 Let us leave the credulous learned to write history without materials.
1817 W. Scott Search after Happiness vi E'en let the learn'd go search, and tell me if I'm wrong.
1879 J. Grant in Cassell's Techn. Educator IV. 284/2 His paper on optics speedily drew upon him the attention of all the learned in Europe.
c. Inflected in comparative and superlative. Now archaic.
ΚΠ
1562 W. Turner 2nd Pt. Herball f. 43 The hop bushe is called..of ye Barbarus writers humulus, of the later learneder writer lupulus.
1585 Abp. E. Sandys Serm. xiv. 249 With all the learnedst of latter times.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. ii. sig. B8 Canacee..Was the learnedst Ladie in her dayes. View more context for this quotation
1609 Bp. J. Hall Passion-serm. 12 I leaue it modestly in the middest; let the learneder iudge.
a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) Pref. sig. B6v Diuers of my learnedest and best affected Friends.
1646 S. Bolton Arraignment of Errour 101 The learnedst men..may be deceivers.
1650 J. Milton Tenure of Kings (ed. 2) 51 Among our own Divines..two of the Lernedest.
1661 R. Boyle New Exper. Physico-mech. (1682) Pref. 6 For more learneder men than I [etc.].
1693 W. Freke Sel. Ess. xxxiv. 224 I may make myself learneder by reading.
?1820 C. Lamb Lett. (1935) II. 285 Testimony that had been disputed by learneder clerks than I.
1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk (1869) 2nd Ser. x. 204 A lady had objected to my use of the word learneder, as bad grammar.
1870 R. W. Emerson Success in Wks. (1906) III. 120 The gravest and learnedest courts in this country shudder to face a new question.
d. Said of one ‘learned in the law’; hence applied by way of courtesy to any member of the legal profession.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > jurisprudence > [adjective] > learned in the law
learnedc1485
law-learned1606
law-prudent1645
jurisprudent1737
c1485 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) 48 Yt is thought by the forsayd lernedmen, that [etc.].
1524 King Henry VIII in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 220 Our welbiloued subgiet Edward Mountegue, lernedman.
1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice iv. i. 164 You heare the learnd Bellario what he writes. View more context for this quotation
1806 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. VI. 562 The learned Judges having given their opinion..there is nothing remaining for the consideration of the House.
e. transferred. Of an animal trained to make a show of intelligence.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [adjective] > trained
well-brokenc1450
learned1784
1784 A. Seward Let. 29 Oct. in H. Pearson Swan of Lichfield (1936) 71 That amusing part of this conversation, which alluded to the learned Pig, and his demi-rational exhibitions, I shall transmit to you hereafter.
1785 W. Cowper Let. 22 Apr. (1981) II. 343 I have a competitor for fame..in the learned Pig.
1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple I. ix. 109 There was also the learned pig..and a hundred other sights.
1837 S. Lover Rory O'More (1897) xvi. 128 Here is the wondherful larned pig that knows the five quarters o' the world, and more.
1919 Conrad Let. 25 Jan. in G. Jean-Aubry J. Conrad: Life & Lett. (1927) II. 216 If the Alliances had been differently combined the Western Powers would have delivered Poland to the German learned pig.
3.
a. Of things: Pertaining to, manifesting, or characterized by, profound knowledge gained by study.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > [adjective] > relating to learning
yleredc897
scientialc1454
cunning?1520
scholarlike1547
Palladian1562
lettered1567
sophical1601
literary1605
learned1613
gnostic1656
mathetic1815
sophic1900
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 10 I will not dispute this question..A learned ignorance shall better content me.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 94 Learned Times.
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 36 Then to the well-trod stage anon, If Jonsons learned Sock be on.
1651 T. Fuller Abel Redevivus 434 The Scholar could heare no learneder..Sermons.
1763 Dodsley Pref. to Shenstone's Wks. The father resolved to give him a learned education.
1804 W. Cruise Digest Laws Eng. Real Prop. III. 515 A treatise of tenures by a learned hand.
1823 C. Lamb in London Mag. Oct. 405/2 Your learned fondness for the architecture of your ancestors.
1824 C. Lamb in London Mag. Nov. 482/1 The anecdote..diffused a learned air through the apartment.
1857 W. Whewell tr. Nicholas of Cusa in Hist. Inductive Sci. (ed. 3) I. 379 The Ancients..were wanting in Learned Ignorance.
1874 E. O. M. Deutsch Lit. Remains 264 A learned and lucid paper in the current Edinburgh Review.
b. In art-criticism often applied to draughtsmanship, colouring, etc., with the sense: Exhibiting thorough knowledge of method.
ΚΠ
a1830 Hazlitt Fine Arts (1873) 231 The drawing of N. Poussin..is merely learned and anatomical.
c. Of a language, profession, or science: Pursued or studied chiefly by men of learning. Of the words in a language: Introduced by men of learning. Of plants: Known only from books (rare).
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > subject or object of study > [adjective] > learned
learned1581
the mind > language > linguistics > linguistic unit > word > [adjective] > relating to other specific types of word
long-tailedc1550
communicable1583
unanalogical1755
learned1869
parasynetic1885
monorrhemic1939
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xli. 238 The three learned toungues, the latin, the greeke, the hebrew.
1623 W. Lisle Ælfric's Saxon Treat. Pref. (1638) 2 He knew moreover the learneder tongues and arts as well as they.
1708 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth (ed. 2) ii. 139 The learned Sciences seem to have been anciently much better known.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. Introd. 3 These learned plants however must be found in nature.
1798 L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 4) ii. vi. 87 The English tongue is, in many respects, materially different from the learned languages.
1850 A. Jameson Legends Monastic Orders 171 Students in the learned professions at Rome.
1869 Kitchin Brachet's Hist. Fr. Gram. Introd. 32 Words of very different origin,..the one popular, the other learned.
1869 Kitchin Brachet's Hist. Fr. Gram. Introd. 39 This influx of learned words increases throughout the fifteenth century.
d. Of publications: devoted to (esp. some branch of) scholarship.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [adjective] > learned
learned1883
1883 E. B. Bax tr. I. Kant Prolegomena & Metaphysical Found. Nat. Sci. 128 There is a good deal to be done before a learned journal..can maintain its otherwise well-merited reputation, in the field of metaphysics as elsewhere.
1942 Amer. Speech 17 3 Since he [sc. the writer of detective stories] introduces characters from all walks of life, and since he usually avoids the more formal style, he is a better informant than..the writers for the learned journals.
1951 W. H. Auden Nones (1952) 61 Lone scholars, sniping from the walls Of learned periodicals, Our fact defend.
1954 E. E. Evans-Pritchard Inst. Primitive Soc. p. v Monographs about primitive peoples and innumerable papers devoted to them in learned journals.
1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo i. 50 Subscriptions to learned periodicals.
1969 M. Pugh Last Place Left xxii. 167 So you've just met him. And the rest you know..from the learned journals.
Derivatives
ΚΠ
a1680 S. Butler Genuine Remains (1759) I. 250 Some write in Hebrew..T' avoid the Critic..And seem more learnedish, than [etc.].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1902; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.c1384