study
nounEtymology Inherited from Middle English studie, from Old French estudie (Modern French étude), borrowed from Latin studium (“zeal, dedication, study”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- (“to push, to hit”). Doublet of etude and studio.
12 senses
- 1Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning.
- 2The act of studying or examining; examination.
- 3Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any…
- 4A room in a house intended for reading and writing…
- 5An artwork made in order to practise or demonstrate a…
- 6The human face, bearing an expression which the observer…
- 7A piece for special practice; an etude.
- 8An academic publication.
- 9One who commits a theatrical part to memory.
- 10An endgame problem composed for artistic merit, where…
- 11A state of mental perplexity or worried thought.
- 12Thought, as directed to a specific purpose; one's concern.
1
Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning.
- The study of languages is fascinating.
- 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;[…].1661, Fell, John, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond, page 334:
2 more examples
- 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.1699, Temple, William, Heads designed for an essay on conversations:
- He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.2012 March-April, John T. Jost, “Social Justice: Is It in Our Nature (and Our Future)?”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 162:
2
The act of studying or examining; examination.
- I made a careful study of his sister.
- 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.2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
3
Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any object of attentive consideration.
- The Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament, are her daily study.1762, Law, Edmund, An extract from: A serious call to a devout and holy life:
- The proper study of mankind is man.1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle II, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
4
A room in a house intended for reading and writing; traditionally the private room of the male head of household.
- Father spends all his time in the study poring over manuscripts.
- his cheery little study1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Introductory”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
1 more example
- 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.2025 August 14, Anniki Sommerville, “I’m sick of my rich friends pretending that they’re struggling”, in The i Paper:
5
An artwork made in order to practise or demonstrate a subject or technique.
- a study of heads or of hands for a figure picture
6
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.]
7
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A piece for special practice; an etude.
8
Literary An academic publication.
- That new study on noncommutative symmetries looks promising.
9
One who commits a theatrical part to memory.
10
Board games, Chess, Games An endgame problem composed for artistic merit, where one side is to play for a win or for a draw.
11
Obsolete A state of mental perplexity or worried thought.
- 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 myghte1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XX, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:
- 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.1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 36:
12
Archaic Thought, as directed to a specific purpose; one's concern.
- My study was to avoid disturbing her.
- Just men they seemd, and all thir study bent / To worship God aright, and know his works.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:
- Synonyms
- study, inquiry, investigation, exploration
- Derived terms
61 terms
ablation study, Bible study, biostudy, bread study, bread-study, brown study, case study, cohort study, collective study, counterstudy, cyberstudy, field of study, field study, forestudy, four treasures of the study, home study, interstudy, megastudy, metastudy, microstudy, motion and time study, multistudy, nonstudy, of its own study, paleostudy, poststudy, prestudy, pre-study, quick study, self-study, serostudy, slow study, studier, study abroad, Studyblr, studyblr, study buddy, study centre, study circle, studygram, Studygram, study group, study guide, study hall, study house, study leave, studylike, study mama, StudyTok, study tour, StudyTube, StudyTuber, substudy, time-and-motion study, time and motion study, time-motion study, time study, trade study, understudy, work-study, work-study program- Related terms
- student, studious, pseudoscience, astrology, numerology, knowledge, learning, education
- Hypernyms
- activity
- Hyponyms
- science, mathematics, humanities, natural science, social science, philosophy, philology