# learned

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈlɜːnɪd/ · frequency rank #1,486

## Definitions
1. Having much learning, knowledgeable, erudite; highly educated.
2. A courteous description used in various ways to refer to lawyers or judges.
3. Scholarly, exhibiting scholarship.

## Etymology
From Middle English lerned, lernd, lernyd, equivalent to learn + -ed, which replaced the earlier lered (“taught”), from Old English (ġe)lǣred, past participle of lǣran (“to teach”). Learn formerly had the meaning “to teach”, which is now found only in nonstandard speech, as well as its standard meaning of “to learn”.

## Easily confused with
- **learnt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/learned-vs-learnt)
- **leased** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/learned-vs-leased)
- **leaved** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/learned-vs-leaved)
- **learner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/learned-vs-learner)
- **learn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/learn-vs-learned)
- **leaked** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leaked-vs-learned)
- **leaned** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leaned-vs-learned)
- **leaped** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leaped-vs-learned)
- **leaner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leaner-vs-learned)
- **leaded** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/leaded-vs-learned)

## Common misspellings (10)
`elarned`, `laerned`, `leanred`, `learend`, `learnde`, `learnedd`, `learnned`, `learrned`, `leraned`, `llearned`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/learned