lesson

1 of 2

noun

les·​son ˈle-sᵊn How to pronounce lesson (audio)
1
: a passage from sacred writings read in a service of worship
2
a
: a piece of instruction
b
: a reading or exercise to be studied by a pupil
c
: a division of a course of instruction
3
a
: something learned by study or experience
his years of travel had taught him valuable lessons
b
: an instructive example
the lessons of history
c

lesson

2 of 2

verb

lessoned; lessoning ˈle-sə-niŋ How to pronounce lesson (audio)
ˈles-niŋ

transitive verb

1
: to give a lesson to : instruct
2

Examples of lesson in a Sentence

Noun You can't go out to play until you've finished your lessons. The book is divided into 12 lessons. She took piano lessons for years. political leaders who have failed to learn the lessons of history I've learned my lesson—I'll never do that again! Let that be a lesson to you—if you don't take better care of your toys they'll get broken! Verb would tirelessly lesson the children in proper manners
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Noun
There is much more to come as enforcement actions, rules refinement, lessons learned, and leading reporting and compliance practices take form. Jim Deloach, Forbes, 29 Oct. 2024 Many of you have served as scout leaders, faithfully helping young people incorporate the values and lessons traditionally associated with scouting into their lives. Enquirer Staff, The Enquirer, 29 Oct. 2024
Verb
Many of those questions are focused on how CrowdStrike has adapted to prevent a similar outage, why only Windows systems were affected, and what lessons other IT vendors can learn from this, Daniel noted. Sam Sabin, Axios, 24 Sep. 2024 Nearing 80-years-old and urged by his wife Grete (Lena Olin) to reduce some of his store of papers, Winton, who never told his family about his role in saving so many refugees, wonders what lessons the scrapbook documenting his work might offer to a wider public. Alissa Simon, Variety, 11 Sep. 2023 See all Example Sentences for lesson 

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French leçon, from Late Latin lection-, lectio, from Latin, act of reading, from legere to read — more at legend

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1555, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of lesson was in the 13th century

Dictionary Entries Near lesson

Cite this Entry

“Lesson.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lesson. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

lesson

noun
les·​son
ˈles-ᵊn
1
: a part of the Scripture read in a church service
2
a
: a reading or exercise assigned to be studied
b
: something learned by study or experience

More from Merriam-Webster on lesson

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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