study

• IPA^(key): /ˈstʌdi/

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• Rhymes: -ʌdi

From Middle English studien, from Old French estudier (Modern French étudier) from Medieval Latin studiāre and Latin studēre, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- (“to push, hit”).

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

1. (usually academic) To review 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 with the intention of applying it in practice.

   Biologists study living things.

   In 2015, scientists found that 82 percent of glaciers studied in China had decreased in size.

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 […]

• con
• elucubrate
• research
• revise
• swot

From Middle English studie, from Old French estudie (Modern French étude), from Latin studium (“zeal, dedication, study”),[1][2] from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- (“to push, hit”). Doublet of studio.

study (countable and uncountable, plural studies)

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. Any particular branch of learning that is studied; any object of attentive consideration.
   • (Can we date this quote?) William Law

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

   • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope

     The proper study of mankind is man.

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.

   • (Can we date this quote?) Nathaniel Hawthorne

     his cheery little study

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

   That new study on noncommutative symmetries looks promising.

9. (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

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

    My study was to avoid disturbing her.

    • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton

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

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

• See also Thesaurus:study

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

• brown study

• student
• studious

• Dusty, Dutys, dusty