English

Verb

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

1. (usually academic) To revise 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) To take a course or courses on a subject.

   I study medicine at the university.

3. To acquire knowledge on a subject.

   Biologists study living things.

4. To look at minutely.

   He studied the map in preparation for the hike.

5. To fix the mind closely upon a subject; to dwell upon anything in thought; to muse; to ponder.
   • Jonathan Swift

     I found a moral first, and then studied for a fable.

6. To endeavor diligently; to be zealous.
   • Bible, 1 Thessalonians iv. 11

     And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you […]

Synonyms

• con
• elucubrate
• research
• revise
• swot

Translations

Noun

study ‎(countable and uncountable, plural studies)

1. (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

2. (archaic) Thought, as directed to a specific purpose; one's concern.

   My study was to avoid disturbing her.‎

   • John Milton (1608-1674)

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

3. Mental effort to acquire knowledge or learning.

   The study of languages is fascinating.‎

   • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond

     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, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations

     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.

   • 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:

     He draws eclectically on studies of baboons, descriptive anthropological accounts of hunter-gatherer societies and, in a few cases, the fossil record.

4. 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.

5. Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any object of attentive consideration.
   • William Law (1686-1761)

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

   • Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

     The proper study of mankind is man.

6. 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.‎

   • Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

     his cheery little study

7. An artwork made in order to practise or demonstrate a subject or technique.

   a study of heads or of hands for a figure picture‎

8. (music) A piece for special practice; an étude.

Synonyms

• (private male room): cabinet, closet (archaic)

Coordinate terms

• (private male room): boudoir (female equivalent)

Hyponyms

• See also Wikisaurus:study

Derived terms

• brown study

Translations

Related terms

• student
• studious

Statistics

Anagrams

• dusty, Dusty

References

1. 1 2 Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "study, v." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1919.
2. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary, 1st ed. "study, n." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1919.