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study - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

    Inherited from Middle English studien, from Old French estudier (Modern French étudier), from estudie (noun), borrowed from Latin studium. Displaced Old English cneordlæcan.

    study (third-person singular simple present studies, present participle studying, simple past and past participle studied)

    1. (usually academic, transitive, intransitive) To review materials already learned in order to make sure one does not forget them, usually in preparation for an examination.
      Students are expected to start studying for final exams in March.
      I need to study my biology notes.
    2. (academic, transitive) To take a course or courses on a subject.
      I study medicine at the university.
    3. (transitive) To acquire knowledge on a subject with the intention of applying it in practice.
      Biologists study living things.

      In 2015, scientists found that 82 percent of glaciers studied in China had decreased in size.

    4. (transitive) To look at carefully and minutely.
      He studied the map in preparation for the hike.
    5. (transitive) To fix the mind closely upon a subject; to dwell upon anything in thought; to muse; to ponder.
      • July 10, 1732, Jonathan Swift, letter to Mr. Gay and The Duchess of Queensberry
        I found a moral first, and studied for a fable.
    6. (intransitive) To endeavor diligently; to be zealous.
    The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. For synonyms and antonyms you may use the templates {{syn|en|...}} or {{ant|en|...}}.

    to revise/review materials

    to take a course

    to acquire knowledge

    to look at minutely

    to fix the mind closely upon a subject; to muse; to ponder

    to endeavor diligently; to be zealous

    Translations to be checked

    Inherited from Middle English studie, from Old French estudie (Modern French étude), borrowed from Latin studium (“zeal, dedication, study”),[1][2] from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- (“to push, to hit”). Doublet of etude and studio.

    study (countable and uncountable, plural studies)

    1. Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning.
      The study of languages is fascinating.

      • 1661, Fell, John, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond‎[1], page 334:

        During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant; […].

      • 1699, Temple, William, Heads designed for an essay on conversations‎[2]:

        Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

    2. The act of studying or examining; examination.
      I made a careful study of his sister.

      • 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:

        Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: […] . The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.

    3. Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any object of attentive consideration.

      • 1762, Law, Edmund, An extract from: A serious call to a devout and holy life:

        The Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament, are her daily study.

    5. A room in a house intended for reading and writing; traditionally the private room of the male head of household.
      Synonyms: home office, cabinet, (archaic) closet
      Coordinate term: boudoir (female equivalent)
      Father spends all his time in the study poring over manuscripts.

      • 2025 August 14, Anniki Sommerville, “I’m sick of my rich friends pretending that they’re struggling”, in The i Paper‎[3]:

        I was asked round once for dinner, and my tongue was hanging out at the sheer scale of it – complete with three bathrooms, two studies, and a sauna.

    6. An artwork made in order to practise or demonstrate a subject or technique.
      a study of heads or of hands for a figure picture
    7. The human face, bearing an expression which the observer finds amusingly typical of a particular emotion or state of mind.
      Geoffrey's face was a study.

      Geoffrey's face was a study in amazement [or in bewilderment, irritation, distress etc.]

    8. (music) A piece for special practice; an etude.
    9. (academic) An academic publication.
      That new study on noncommutative symmetries looks promising.
    10. One who commits a theatrical part to memory.
    11. (chess) An endgame problem composed for artistic merit, where one side is to play for a win or for a draw.
    12. (obsolete) A state of mental perplexity or worried thought.

      • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XX, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:

        wel said the kynge thow mayst take myn hors by force but and I myȝte preue the whether thow were better on horsbak or I / wel said the knyght seke me here whan thow wolt and here nygh this wel thow shalt fynde me / and soo passyd on his weye / thenne the kyng sat in a study and bad his men fetche his hors as faste as euer they myghte

        Well, said the king, thou mayst take my horse by force, but an I might prove thee whether thou were better on horseback or I. Well, said the knight, seek me here when thou wilt, and here nigh this well thou shalt find me, and so passed on his way. Then the king sat in a study, and bade his men fetch his horse as fast as ever they might.

      • 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 36:

        When they had stood for a while without speech, gazing over the sea, Gro spake and said, “Consider how as day now dieth in yonder chambers of the west, so hath the glory departed from Witchland.” ¶ But the Red Foliot answered him not, being in a study.

    13. (archaic) Thought, as directed to a specific purpose; one's concern.
      My study was to avoid disturbing her.

      • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

        Just men they seemd, and all thir study bent / To worship God aright, and know his works.

    mental effort to acquire knowledge

    branch of learning or object that is being studied

    room in a house intended for reading and writing

    music: piece for special practice — see etude

    academic publication

    Translations to be checked

    1. ^ “study, v.”, in Oxford English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1919
    2. ^ “study, n.”, in Oxford English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1919
    • “study”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.