DictionaryAI

teach

TEECH/tiːt͡ʃ/

Formsteaches, teaching, taught

5 meanings of teach

Practice

  1. 1
    instructverb
    To give someone knowledge or skills through instruction, or to do this as one's job.

    Experienced craftsmen teach newcomers the basics of the trade.

    He teaches his apprentices to question every assumption.

    UsageThe past is taught (not incorrect: teached). Patterns: teach me to sew, teach sewing to children, teach someone how to read.

    Similarinstruct, train, educate, tutor, coach

    Oppositelearn

  2. 2
    bring understandingverb
    To bring someone to know or understand something, whether through instruction or through experience.

    A single failed venture can teach an entrepreneur more than years of easy success.

    The long winter taught the settlers how fragile their supplies really were.

    UsageOften followed by a that-clause or question word: experience taught me that patience pays, teach us how fragile life is.

    Similarshow

    Note

    Here the teacher need not be a person at all. Experience, failure or even a machine can do the teaching. Rob Dorit, writing in American Scientist in 2013, says Deep Blue "taught us a great deal about the power of the human mind."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  3. 3
    as punishmentverb
    To make someone aware of the unpleasant consequences of an action, usually as a warning or punishment.

    A parking ticket on his first day should teach him to ignore the signs.

    The coach benched him for a game to teach him not to skip practice.

    UsageOften an angry I'll teach you to + the offense: I'll teach you to lie to me! It warns rather than instructs.

    Note

    A threat dressed as instruction, and it means the opposite of what it seems. I'll teach you to make fun of me! promises to stop the mockery, not to train anyone in it. Here the infinitive names the offense, not the skill, which reverses the ordinary sense of teach me to sew.

Less common meanings

  1. 4
    instructornouncolloquialterm of addresscountable
    An informal term for a teacher.

    Come on, teach, give us a hint!

    When the bell rang, Tommy grinned and said, "See you tomorrow, teach."

    UsageUsed without a or the when speaking to a teacher: Hey, teach!

    Similarteacher

  2. 5
    verbobsoletetransitive
    To show someone the way; to guide, conduct, or point them onward.
    Note

    The verb's oldest meaning shows through here. Old English tǣċan meant "to show, direct," from a root meaning "to show." In Malory's Le Morte Darthur (1485), "they taught hym to the Abbaye" means they directed Lancelot there, and the verb could simply mean to point, as in "taught to Heaven." In older texts, teach us the way can mean guidance along a road, though it can also mean moral or spiritual instruction; context decides.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of teach apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–3, 5

Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- ("to show") led to Proto-Germanic *taikijaną ("to show") and Old English tǣċan, meaning "to show, declare, teach, instruct," which became Middle English techen. German zeigen ("to show"), Latin dīcō ("say, tell"), and Ancient Greek deíknumi ("show, teach") are relatives.

Meaning 4

A clipping of teacher.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact