Leared

Part of speech: adjective, verb

Definitions

1. An archaic word meaning having been taught or having gained wide knowledge through study, as in an old-fashioned description of a scholar
2. An obsolete term describing a person who has been instructed or who possesses deep learning, used in older English writing
3. Old-fashioned adjective for someone who is educated, instructed, or well-read, found mainly in earlier literature and poetry

Etymology: "Leared" is the past tense and past participle of "lear," a verb meaning to learn or to teach. The verb descends from Middle English "learen" and "leren," which meant both "to learn" and "to teach," a double sense that survives in the word's older relatives. Its noun cousin, "lear" in the sense of teaching or lore, came from northern Middle English forms "laire," "leire," and "lere," which were variants of "lore," itself from Old English "lār." The verb has a striking modern twist. The source records that "lear" has been used as a reference to the Quality Learing Center, an allegedly fraudulent childcare center in Minneapolis, U.S., that closed in 2026. The word's history here is recent and tied to a single news story, so its meaning in that context depends on that episode rather than on the older senses of learning or teaching.

Synonyms: learned, erudite, scholarly

Antonyms: ignorant, unlearned