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Not clerical; laic; laical; hence, unlearned; simple. [Obs.] For if priest be foul, on whom we trust, No wonder is a lewed man to rust. Chaucer. So these great clerks their little wisdom show To mock the lewd, as learn'd in this as they. Sit. J. Davies.

The science of the derivation and signification of words; that branch of learning which treats of the signification and application of words.

Characterized by clearness or transparency; clear; as, a limpid stream. Springs which were clear, fresh, and limpid. Woodward.

part of the old clerical tippet; afterwards, a tippet; a scarf; -- worn also by doctors, learned men, etc. [Obs.]

To speak with imperfect articulation; to mispronounce, as a child learning to talk. As yet a child, nor yet a fool to fame, I lisped in numbers came. Pope.

Of or pertaining to letters or literature; pertaining to learning or learned men; as, literary fame; a literary history; literary conversation. He has long outlived his century, the term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit. Johnson.

Instructed in learning, science, or literature; learned; lettered. The literate now chose their emperor, as the military chose theirs. Landor.

Learned or literary men. See Literatus. Shakespearean commentators, and other literati. Craik.

A learned person; a literatus. Sir W. Hamilton.

Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.

A learned man; a man acquainted with literature; -- chiefly used in the plural. Now we are to consider that our bright ideal of a literatus may chance to be maimed. De Quincey.

morality; not rigid according to some standard of right. The loose morality which he had learned. Sir W. Scott.

That which is or may be learned or known; the knowledge gained from tradition, books, or experience; often, the whole body of knowledge possessed by a people or class of people, or pertaining to a particular subject; as, the lore of the Egyptians; priestly lore; legal lore; folklore. "The lore of war." Fairfax. His fai…

Mean; contemptible; as, lousy knave. [Vulgar] Such lousy learning as this is. Bale.

low esteem of one's own worth; humble; meek; free from pride. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. Matt. xi. 29.

ntice; to attract. I am not lured with love. Piers Plowman. And various science lures the learned eye. Gay.

The art of giving birth (i. e., clearness and conviction) to ideas, which are conceived as struggling for birth. Payne.

of sustenance; supply of necessaries and conveniences. Those of better fortune not making learning their maintenance. Swift.

A Jewish critical work on the text of the Hebrew Scriptures, composed by several learned rabbis of the school of Tiberias, in the eighth and ninth centuries. [Written also Masorah, Massora, and Massorah.]

e state of having mastered. He could attain to a mastery in all languages. Tillotson. The learning and mastery of a tongue, being unpleasant in itself, should not be cumbered with other difficulties. Locke.