study
Verbstudies, studying, studied
Noun pluralstudies (some meanings)
Formsstudies, studying, studied
Pluralstudies (some meanings)
- 1To devote time and attention to gaining knowledge of a subject, as by taking courses, reading, or reviewing material, for example before an exam.
He studied philosophy at the university for three years.
Thousands of students study economics every year.
UsageStudy for an exam, study at a university. Study is the effort; learn is getting the knowledge.
Similarlearn
- 2The careful examination or investigation of something.
The proposal is still under study by the committee.
These ruins have been the object of much scholarly study.
UsageSet phrase under study: the plan is still under study.
Similarexamination, investigation, scrutiny, consideration, review
- 3A piece of research that investigates a particular question, or the written report that presents its findings.
The study found a clear link between diet and heart disease.
Researchers cited an earlier study on climate patterns.
UsageA study on or of a topic; studies find or show that something is true.
- 4
- 5A branch of learning that one pursues, or any subject given close attention.
Ancient languages were the chief study of his career.
The migration of birds became her main study.
Similarsubject, field, discipline, pursuit, specialty
Note
The sense behind Pope's line in An Essay on Man (1733): "The proper study of mankind is man." There the word names the subject itself, not the effort of learning it. In the same way, William Law in 1729 calls the Scriptures a woman's "daily study."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Pope's An Essay on Man began publication in 1733. gutenberg.org
- Pope wrote the quoted line in An Essay on Man. eighteenthcenturypoetry.org
- The Law passage describes the Scriptures as a woman's daily study. ccel.org
- 6The mental effort applied to acquiring knowledge or learning a subject.
Her success in mathematics came from years of patient study.
Mastery of the violin demands hours of daily study.
UsageUsually with no a: years of study, hours of daily study.
Similarlearning, practice, application, reading, scholarship
- 7A room in a house set aside for reading and writing.
She retreated to her study to finish the manuscript.
The lawyer kept his case files locked in the study.
Note
A room named for what happens in it, and traditionally the private retreat of the man of the house. Hawthorne already writes of "his cheery little study" in The Scarlet Letter (1850). Cabinet and closet once named the same kind of private room, and home office is the plainer modern equivalent.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The study was traditionally the private room of the male head of the household. en.wiktionary.org
- Hawthorne uses the exact phrase quoted in The Scarlet Letter. gutenberg.org
- The Scarlet Letter was first published in 1850. blogs.loc.gov
- Cabinet and closet historically named the kind of private room from which the study developed. en.wikipedia.org
Less common meanings
- 8
- 9A musical piece composed for special practice; an etude.
Chopin transformed the humble study into a vehicle for profound expression.
She performed a demanding study that tested her left-hand agility.
Note
Music's name for the etude, and the two words are doublets. Both come through French from Latin studium. Study arrived early by way of Old French estudie, and etude came later from its modern descendant, étude. Either word promises the same thing: a piece built around a particular skill to be practiced. Studio belongs to the same family.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Study and etude are etymological doublets. en.wiktionary.org
- Study came through Old French estudie, from Latin studium; étude is the modern French descendant. en.wiktionary.org
- Etude was borrowed later, from French étude, ultimately from Latin studium. en.wiktionary.org
- In music, study and étude name a composition designed to practise a particular skill. en.wikipedia.org
- Studio belongs to the same etymological family, deriving from Latin studium through Italian. en.wiktionary.org
- 10To work diligently and earnestly toward a goal.
Similarstrive, endeavor, aim, try, seek
Note
Here the Latin root shows through. Studium meant "zeal, dedication" before it meant learning, and this verb keeps the zeal. It takes a to-infinitive naming the goal, as in the King James Bible of 1611: "study to be quiet, and to do your own business." Read it as "make it your aim to," not "learn how to." The same root gives the noun for one's chief aim.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- This sense of the verb means to endeavour diligently or be zealous. en.wiktionary.org
- The King James Bible was first published in 1611. wwwe.lib.cam.ac.uk
- The quoted wording occurs in the King James Bible, at 1 Thessalonians 4:11, and exemplifies study followed by a to-infinitive. en.wikisource.org
- The noun study, including its sense of an aim or concern, has the same Latin origin. en.wiktionary.org
- 11Something, most often a person's face, that shows a feeling or quality so plainly that it seems a perfect example of it, as in 'a study in contrasts'.
The boy's face was a perfect study in guilt as crumbs fell from his pocket.
When the verdict was read aloud, the defendant's face was a study.
UsageSet phrases: someone's face was a study, or a study in guilt, contrasts or amazement.
Similarpicture, portrait, image
Note
The image borrows from the artist's practice piece: a face, person or scene so typical of a quality that it seems posed for examination. Said of a face, it is often amused; in a phrase like a study in contrasts there is no joke at all.
- 12Thought directed toward a particular purpose; the object of one's concern or aim.
Just men they seemd, and all thir study bent / To worship God aright, and know his works.
1667, John Milton, Paradise LostMy study was to avoid disturbing her.
Note
Purpose rather than learning: what one's thought is bent toward. Milton's Paradise Lost (1667) describes men with "all thir study bent / To worship God aright." The pattern "my study was to" plus an infinitive shows the usual shape. Because the sense is archaic, it suits period writing; in modern prose, aim or concern says the same. It is the noun partner of the verb of earnest striving.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- John Milton wrote Paradise Lost, first published in 1667. en.wikipedia.org
- 1667 is the first publication year. en.wikipedia.org
- The poem describes men using the quoted wording. ccel.org
- 13A condition of mental perplexity or anxious, brooding thought.
Note
An older meaning that has otherwise dropped out of the language, surviving in the dated phrase "a brown study": a state of deep, absent-minded thought, often gloomy but not necessarily worried. Malory uses it in 1485, and E. R. Eddison brings it back in The Worm Ouroboros (1922), where the surrounding prose (spake, dieth) is deliberately antique. Outside that fixed phrase, use it only for period effect; elsewhere a study is a room for reading or a piece of research.
- 14A person judged by how quickly they learn something, especially in 'a quick study'; originally, an actor learning a stage role.
As a quick study, he mastered the long monologue overnight.
The new hire turned out to be a quick study, mastering the software within a week.
UsageUsed with an adjective, especially a quick study or a slow study.
Similarlearner
- 15A composed chess endgame, valued for its artistry, in which one side must play for a win or a draw.
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Practice
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Origins
Latin studium was borrowed into Old French as the noun estudie, which produced the verb estudier (Modern French étudier) and then Middle English studien. The word took the place of native Old English cneordlæcan.
The root is Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd-, meaning "to push, hit," which led to Latin studium ("zeal, dedication, study"). Old French borrowed it as estudie (Modern French étude), and Middle English made it studie. Etude and studio are doublets of this word.