teach

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To pass on knowledge to.

   Can you teach me to sew?  Can you teach sewing to me?

2. 2
   verb

   To pass on knowledge generally, especially as one's profession; to act as a teacher.

   She used to teach at university.

3. 3
   verb

   To cause (someone) to learn or understand (something).

   The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;[…]. Now she had come to look upon the matter in its true proportions, and her anticipation of a possible chance of teaching him a lesson was a pleasure to behold.

4. 4
   verb

   To cause to know the disagreeable consequences of some action.

   I'll teach you to make fun of me!

5. 5
   verb

   To show (someone) the way; to guide, conduct; to point, indicate.

   ‘The bliss is there’, mumbled the old man and taught to Heaven.

6. 6
   name

   Nickname for a teacher.

   I'm not in trouble again, am I, Teach?

7. 7
   verb

   accustom gradually to some action or attitude

8. 8
   verb

   impart skills or knowledge to

Etymology

From Middle English techen, from Old English tǣċan (“to show, declare, demonstrate; teach, instruct, train; assign, prescribe, direct; warn; persuade”), from Proto-West Germanic *taikijan, from Proto-Germanic *taikijaną (“to show”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”). Cognate with Scots tech, teich (“to teach”), German zeigen (“to show, point out”), zeihen (“accuse, blame”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌷𐌰𐌽 (gateihan, “to announce, declare, tell, show, display”), Latin dīcō (“speak, say, tell”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “show, point out, explain, teach”), Sanskrit दिशति (diśati, “to point out…