Schooling

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈskuːlɪŋ/

Definitions

1. The process of receiving or providing systematic instruction typically at an educational institution ; the act of breeding and instructing young animals to behave or perform certain tasks
2. An organized period of instruction and learning usually at a school ; the care and training given to juvenile animals to develop skills or habits
3. The formal teaching and learning activities conducted in schools or similar settings ; the practice of nurturing and guiding young animals to adapt or perform effectively

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "schooling" is that it sits on two unrelated roots that happen to have merged. The noun "school" for a place of learning descends from Late Latin "schola," which came from Greek "skholē," meaning leisure or spare time. Learned discussion was what people did when they had leisure, so the sense of a lecture or debate came first and a building for it later. The Old English "scōl" carried that sense into English. Yet a separate word "school" meant a group of people or animals, a troop or a swarm, and a school of fish still preserves that older sense. It came from Middle Dutch "scole," meaning a crowd or band, and it is related to "shoal," a doublet from the same root. The two senses blended over time, so that the education sense was partly influenced by the crowd sense. "Schooling" is simply the gerund of the verb "to school," meaning to instruct or train, and it carries both the institutional sense of formal instruction and the older idea of training young creatures, a sense that draws on the crowd-and-group background.

Synonyms: education, instruction

Antonyms: ignorance