education

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌedʒ.ʊˈkeɪ.ʃᵊn/, /ˌed.jʊˈkeɪ.ʃᵊn/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French éducation and directly borrowed from Latin ēducātiō (“a rearing, training”),^[2][3][4] from ēducāre (“to bring up, rear”).^[2][5] It is related to educate.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The bringing up of a child: 1527 according to the HTOED,^[6] 1531 according to Merriam-Webster,^[7] and the 1530s according to Etymonline, who adds the training of animals.^[2]

Semantic evolution

At first education meant instruction in social codes and manners,^[2] and between 1533 and the early 19th century also the nourishing or feeding of a child.^[6][3] Systematic instruction is recorded from 1536,^[6] and schooling and training for work from the 1610s.^[2] William Godwin wrote in 1797 that “all education is despotism”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1527 – bringing up a child.^[6]
• 1533 – nourishing (obsolete).^[6]
• 1536 – systematic instruction.^[6]
• 1610s – schooling and training for work.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The process of teaching or learning.
2. The knowledge or skill gained by learning.
3. A programme of instruction of a particular kind or level: higher education.
4. The study of teaching and learning; pedagogy.
5. An instructive experience: quite an education.

Word family

• educational
• educationally
• antieducation
• coeducation
• educationese
• educationist

Related words

• educate
• educator

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster