lesson

1 of 2

noun

les·​son ˈle-sᵊn How to pronounce lesson (audio)
Synonyms of lessonnext
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
: reprimand

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
: lecture, rebuke

Synonyms

Noun

Verb

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

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.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The world is likely to never see Ezra Edelman’s multi-part Prince documentary after the artist’s estate killed it, but Questlove is still pondering its lessons. — Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 16 Mar. 2025 The bundle also includes comprehensive lessons on other Microsoft Office apps like Word, PowerPoint, and Access, covering both basic interfaces and advanced features. — Gene Marks, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025
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

Phrases Containing lesson

Rhymes for lesson

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lesson
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Cite this Entry

“Lesson.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lesson. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

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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

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