Lear
//lɪɹ// name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Something learned; a lesson. Scotland, countable, uncountable
- 2 Alternative form of lehr. alt-of, alternative
- 3 Learning, lore; doctrine. Scotland, countable, uncountable
"when all other helpes she saw to faile, / She turnd her selfe backe to her wicked leares / And by her deuilish arts thought to preuaile [...]."
Verb
- 1 To teach. Scotland, archaic, transitive
- 2 To learn. archaic, intransitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
- 2 The name of a legendary early king of Britain, the central character in Shakespeare's King Lear.
- 3 Clipping of Learjet. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
"First-generation Lears are beasts to fly."
Example
More examples"He acted the part of King Lear."
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English laire, leire, lere, northern Middle English variants of lore, loare (“doctrine, teaching, lore”), from Old English lār (“lore”). More at lore.
Etymology 2
From Middle English learen, leren (“to learn", also "to teach”).
Etymology 3
See lehr.
More for "lear"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.