education
noun
Simple meaning
The gradual process of acquiring knowledge.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
ehjuhkayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ɛdʒəˈkeɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The gradual process of acquiring knowledge
“Education is a preparation for life.”
uncountable
The process of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment.
countable
Facts, skills and ideas that have been learned, especially through formal instruction.
The result of good upbringing (especially knowledge of correct social behavior)
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The gradual process of acquiring knowledge
Used this way, education is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“Education is a preparation for life.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use education
- “Education is a preparation for life.”noun
- “It was clear that he had a very broad education.”noun
- “He received no formal education.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with education (including federal aid to educational institutions and students).
The person who holds the secretaryship of the Department of Education.
Education in elementary subjects (reading and writing and arithmetic) provided to young students at a grade school.
The basic level of a subject taken in school.
Education provided by a college or university.
A master's degree in education.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Relating to the process of education.
Possessing an education (especially having more than average knowledge).
Give an education to.
An institution dedicated to education.
A program for providing education.
An agency of the United Nations that promotes education and communication and the arts.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.