different between learnt vs learned

English

Alternative forms

• learned (Standard US English spelling, Canadian)

Etymology

From Middle English lernd, lernde, equivalent to learn +? -t.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA^(key): /?l??nt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /?l?nt/
• Rhymes: -??(r)nt

Verb

learnt

1. (Britain, New England, African-American Vernacular, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, alternative in US, Canada) simple past tense of learn

   I learnt so many things in this school.

2. (Britain, New England, African-American Vernacular, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, alternative in US, Canada) past participle of learn

   She has learnt to adapt to the changes quickly.

Anagrams

• Antler, Lenart, altern, antler, rental, ternal

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English lerned, lernd, lernyd, equivalent to learn +? -ed, which replaced the earlier lered (“taught”), from Old English (?e)l?red, past participle of l?ran (“to teach”). Learn formerly had the meaning “to teach”, which is now found only in nonstandard speech, as well as its standard meaning of “to learn”.

Alternative forms

• learnèd, learnéd

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l??n?d/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?l?n?d/

Adjective

learned (comparative more learned, superlative most learned)

1. Having much learning, knowledgeable, erudite; highly educated.

   Synonyms: brainy, erudite, knowledgeable, scholarly, educated; see also Thesaurus:learned

   Antonyms: ignorant, stupid, thick, uneducated

   • 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 […]
2. (law, formal) A courteous description used in various ways to refer to lawyers or judges.
3. Scholarly, exhibiting scholarship.

Usage notes

• This adjectival sense of this word is sometimes spelled with a grave accent, learnèd. This is meant to indicate that the second ‘e’ is pronounced as /?/ or /?/, 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.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English leornian (“to acquire knowledge”)

Alternative forms

• learnt (UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand; alternative in Canada; rarely used in American English)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /l??nd/
• (US) enPR: lûrnd, IPA^(key): /l?nd/

Verb

learned

1. (Canada, US and dialectal English) simple past tense and past participle of learn

Adjective

learned (comparative more learned, superlative most learned)

1. Derived from experience; acquired by learning.

   Everyday behavior is an overlay of learned behavior over instinct.

Translations

References

Further reading

• learned in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• learned in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Darleen, Darlene, Leander, relaned