1618: Learn: to Learn and to Teach May 20, 2019

In many ways, English is the odd one out in the Germanic family, but this has also given many lexical differences not present elsewhere. For instance, in English, 'learn' and 'teach' are not interchangeable, though until the 19th century, 'learn' carried both meanings. This is true in German still, where 'lernen' is 'to learn' and 'to teach', though a 'Lerner' is only a learner; 'teacher' is the quite-similar 'Lehrer' though. The word 'teach' is of Germanic origin, but did not catch on the same way in other Germanic languages. It comes from a root meaning 'show' related to 'token' and its German synonym 'Zeichen'.

For a recent Word Theory relating to German's history, click here.