learn
/lɜːn/
"learn" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“learn” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #698 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #698
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To acquire, or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | learn |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /lɜːn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #698 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “learn” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for learn is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /lɜːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #698 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for learn, with forms such as "elarn", "laern", and "leanr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Len", "loan", "liar", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lernen (“to learn", also, "to teach"”), from Old English leornian (“to learn", rarely also, "to teach”), from Proto-West Germanic *liʀnōn, from Proto-Germanic *lizaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(le-)lóys-e, stative from the root *leys- (… The correct English form is learn, spelled L-E-A-R-N.
Definition
- 1To acquire, or attempt to acquire knowledge or an ability to do something.
- 2To attend a course or other educational activity.
- 3To gain knowledge from a bad experience so as to improve.
- 4To study.
- 5To come to know; to become informed of; to find out.
- 6To teach.
Etymology
From Middle English lernen (“to learn", also, "to teach"”), from Old English leornian (“to learn", rarely also, "to teach”), from Proto-West Germanic *liʀnōn, from Proto-Germanic *lizaną, from Proto-Indo-European *(le-)lóys-e, stative from the root *leys- (“track, furrow, trace, trail”). Cognate with Old Frisian lernia, lerna (“to learn”), Middle Low German lernen (“to learn", also, "to teach”), Middle Dutch leernen (“to learn", also, "to teach”) (whence Dutch lernen (“to study scripture”)), German lernen (“to learn”). See also lore and lear.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elarn,laern,leanr,learnn,learrn,leran,llearn
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of learn - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “learn”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-A-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /lɜːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Len” - see the side-by-side comparison. learn vs Len
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.