learned

Etymology 1

From Middle English lerned, lernd, lernyd, equivalent to learn + -ed, which replaced the earlier lered (“taught”), from Old English (ġe)lǣred, past participle of lǣran (“to teach”). Learn formerly had the meaning “to teach”, which is now found only in nonstandard speech, as well as its standard meaning of “to learn”.

adj

1. Having much learning, knowledgeable, erudite; highly educated.
   My learned Brother Cresswell directed the jury to make the calculation […] 1854, Charles Edward Pollock, Lake v. Plaxton, 156 Eng. Rep. 412 (Exch.) 414; 10 Ex. 199, 200 (Eng.)
   The book opens with the Time Traveler dining with learned peers in late 1800s England, where he is trying to convince them that he has invented a time machine. 2011 Feb, Jess Lourey, “A Pyramid Approach to Novel Writing”, in Writer, volume 124, number 2, pages 30–32
   HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW used to be both the best-known poet in the English-speaking world and the most beloved, adored by the learned and the lowly ... 2011 Spring, Jill Lepore, “How Longfellow Woke the Dead”, in American Scholar, volume 80, number 2, pages 33–46
2. (law, formal) A courteous description used in various ways to refer to lawyers or judges.
3. Scholarly, exhibiting scholarship.
   But our limits will not permit us to discuss the many important and curious questions respecting the science of government, to which this learned work invites attention. 1831 March, anonymous author, “The History of the Doric Race”, in The Edinburgh Review, volume LIII, number CV (book review), page 130

Etymology 2

Past participle of learn.

verb

1. (Canada, US and dialectal English) simple past and past participle of learn

adj

1. Derived from experience; acquired by learning.
   Everyday behavior is an overlay of learned behavior over instinct.