Relearning
Part of speech: verb
Definitions
- The practice of acquiring previously learned knowledge or skills once again necessitates cognitive engagement and often adapts to new contexts
- The activity of revisiting skills or information that were once mastered requires mental effort and may involve altering one's approach to learning
- The process of engaging with previously acquired knowledge or abilities emphasizes mental re-engagement and can involve adjustments to learning methods
Etymology: "Relearning" is the present participle and gerund of "relearn", which is simply "learn" with the prefix "re-" attached, meaning "again." The prefix comes from Latin "re-", which passed into English through Old French "re-", and it has been used in English as a productive way to build new verbs on existing ones. The base word has a deeper ancestry. "Learn" descends from Old English "leornian", which in turn traces back through Proto-Germanic "lizaną" to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning something like "to follow a track," a hint that learning was once imagined as tracing out a path. Middle English "lernen" carried the word into the later medieval period before it took its modern spelling.
Synonyms: recapitulating, reacquiring, rediscovering
Antonyms: forgetting, unlearning