study
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈstʌd.i/
ipa: /ˈstʌd.i/
ipa: [ˈstʌɾ.i]
note: Dublin
ipa: /ˈstʊd.i/
rhymes: -ʌdi
Forms: form: studies
Etymology: 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, hit”). Doublet of etude and studio.
Senses: examples: text: The study of languages is fascinating.
text: 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[…]
ref: 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond:
text: 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.
ref: 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations:
text: He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.
ref: 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:
glosses: Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning.
examples: text: I made a careful study of his sister.
text: 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.
ref: 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
glosses: The act of studying or examining; examination.
examples: text: The Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament, are her daily study.
ref: 1762, Edmund Law, An extract from A serious call to a devout and holy life:
text: The proper study of mankind is man.
ref: 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any object of attentive consideration.
examples: text: Father spends all his time in the study poring over manuscripts.
text: his cheery little study
ref: 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Introductory”, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
text: 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.
ref: 2025 August 14, Anniki Sommerville, “I’m sick of my rich friends pretending that they’re struggling”, in The i Paper:
synonyms: home office
cabinet
closet
coordinate_terms: boudoir
glosses: A room in a house intended for reading and writing; traditionally the private room of the male head of household.
examples: text: a study of heads or of hands for a figure picture
glosses: An artwork made in order to practise or demonstrate a subject or technique.
examples: text: Geoffrey's face was a study.
text: Geoffrey's face was a study in amazement [or in bewilderment, irritation, distress etc.]
glosses: The human face, bearing an expression which the observer finds amusingly typical of a particular emotion or state of mind.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A piece for special practice; an etude.
examples: text: That new study on noncommutative symmetries looks promising.
glosses: An academic publication.
glosses: One who commits a theatrical part to memory.
topics: board-games
chess
games
glosses: An endgame problem composed for artistic merit, where one side is to play for a win or for a draw.
examples: text: 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
ref: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XX, in Le Morte Darthur, book I:
english: 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.
translation: 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.
text: 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.
ref: 1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 36:
glosses: A state of mental perplexity or worried thought.
examples: text: My study was to avoid disturbing her.
text: Just men they seemd, and all thir study bent / To worship God aright, and know his works.
ref: 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:
glosses: Thought, as directed to a specific purpose; one's concern.
Synonyms: word: study
word: inquiry
word: investigation
word: exploration
Hypernyms: word: activity
Hyponyms: word: science
word: mathematics
word: humanities
word: natural science
word: social science
word: philosophy
word: philology
Derived terms: ablation study
Bible study
bread-study
bread study
brown study
case study
cohort study
field of study
field study
four treasures of the study
home study
microstudy
motion and time study
of its own study
Oxford study
pre-study
quick study
self-study
slow study
studier
study abroad
study buddy
study centre
study circle
study group
study guide
study hall
study house
study leave
study mama
study tour
time and motion study
time-and-motion study
time-motion study
time study
trade study
understudy
work-study
Related terms: word: student
word: studious
word: pseudoscience
word: astrology
word: numerology
word: knowledge
word: learning
word: education