teach
nounEtymology Clipping of teacher.
1
Informal, Term of address, Usually teacher
teach
verb/ˈtiːt͡ʃ/ · [ˈtʰɪi̯t͡ʃ]
Etymology
From Middle English techen, from Old English tǣċan (“to show, declare, demonstrate; teach, instruct, train; assign, prescribe, direct; warn; persuade”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikijan, from Proto-Germanic *taikijaną (“to show”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”). Cognate with Scots tech, teich (“to teach”), German zeigen (“to show, point out”), zeihen (“accuse, blame”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (gateihan, “to announce, declare, tell, show, display”), Latin dīcō (“speak, say, tell”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “show, point out, explain, teach”), Sanskrit दिशति (diśati, “to point out, show, tell, teach”). More at token.
1
To pass on knowledge to.
- Can you teach me to sew? Can you teach sewing to me?
2
Stative To pass on knowledge generally, especially as one's profession; to act as a teacher.
- She used to teach at university.
3
To cause (someone) to learn or understand (something).
- The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- Deep Blue taught us a great deal about the power of the human mind precisely because it could not reproduce the intuitive and logical leaps of Kasparov’s mind. A truly synthetic cell, built from scratch or even from preexisting components, will be a cell without ancestry, and it, too, will teach us a great deal about the underlying complexities of life without actually reproducing them.2013 September-October, Rob Dorit, “Making Life from Scratch”, in American Scientist:
1 more example
- In Episode 3, Gia incorporates very distinct and strong gestures as she teaches Havelock the phrase, "Unte kowlting gut, to pochuye ke?" ("And everything will be okay, understand?")2016 January 15, Bryan Enk, “Belter Creole 101”, in SYFY:
4
To cause to know the disagreeable consequences of some action.
- I'll teach you to make fun of me!
5
Obsolete To show (someone) the way; to guide, conduct; to point, indicate.
- ‘The bliss is there’, mumbled the old man and taught to Heaven.
- c1450, Mandeville's Travelsː Blessed God of might (the) most.. teach us the right way unto that bliss that lasteth aye.
2 more examples
- c1460, Cursor Mundiː Till thy sweet sun uprose, thou keptest all our lay, how we should keep our belief there taught'st thou us the way.
- So thus within a whyle as they thus talked the nyghte passed / and the daye shone / and thenne syre launcelot armed hym / and took his hors / and they taught hym to the Abbaye and thyder he rode within the space of two owrys1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter V, in Le Morte Darthur, book VI:
- Derived terms
45 terms
beteach, coteach, co-teach, don't teach your grandmother how to milk ducks, don't teach your grandmother to steal sheep, don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs, foreteach, forteach, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, home teach, microteach, misteach, nonteaching, overteach, pre-teach, reteach, teachability, teachable, teach away, teacher, teacherly, teach grandma how to suck eggs, teach-in, teaching, teachingly, teachless, teach out, teach-out, teach school, teach someone a lesson, teach someone who's the boss, teach the controversy, teach to read and write, teach to the test, teach who's boss, teach who's the boss, teachworthy, teachy, that'll teach someone, underteach, unteach, unteachability, unteachable, you can't teach an old dog new tricks