Relearning

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

  1. The practice of acquiring previously learned knowledge or skills once again necessitates cognitive engagement and often adapts to new contexts
  2. The activity of revisiting skills or information that were once mastered requires mental effort and may involve altering one's approach to learning
  3. 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