n.
(pl. studies)
- the devotion of time and attention to acquiring knowledge, especially from books.
▸
(studies)
work done by a person to acquire knowledge.
▸
(
studies)
used in the title of an academic subject:
a course in transport studies.
- a detailed investigation and analysis of a subject or situation.
▸archaic a thing that is or deserves to be investigated.
- a room for reading, writing, or academic work.
- a piece of work, especially a drawing, done for practice or as an experiment.
▸a musical composition designed to develop a player's technical skill.
-
(a study in)
a good example of (a quality or emotion):
he perched on the bed, a study in misery.
- theatrical slang a person who memorizes a role at a specified speed. See also quick study.
v.
(studies, studying, studied)
- acquire knowledge about.
▸make a study of.
▸apply oneself to study.
▸
(study up)
US learn intensively about something, especially in preparation for a test.
▸(of an actor) try to learn (the words of one's role).
- look at closely in order to observe or read.
-
[as adj. studied]
done with deliberate and careful effort.
Phrase
- in a brown study
absorbed in one's thoughts.
[appar. orig. from brown in the sense ‘gloomy’.]
Derivative
- studiedly adv.
- studiedness n.
Etymology
ME: shortening of OFr. estudie (n.), estudier (v.), both based on L. studium ‘zeal, painstaking application’.