lear

¹

[ leer ]

noun

, Scot. and North England.

1. learning; instruction; lesson.

Lear

²

[ leer ]

noun

1. Edward, 1812–88, English writer of humorous verse and landscape painter.
2. (italics) King Lear.

Lear

/ lɪə /

noun

1. LearEdward18121888MEnglishWRITING: humorous writerARTS AND CRAFTS: painter Edward. 1812–88, English humorist and painter, noted for his illustrated nonsense poems and limericks

Word History and Origins

Origin of lear¹

1350–1400; late Middle English lere lesson, noun use of lere to teach, Old English lǣran; cognate with Dutch leren, German lehren, Gothic laisjan; akin to lore ¹

Example Sentences

Shakespeare’s play begins with Lear naming his heirs and ends with those heirs betraying him.

From Time

A little-known fact about King Lear is that many of its monologues double perfectly as speeches to recite in the mirror when you’ve just been passed over for a promotion.

From Quartz

When not attending to his own woes, he maintained a frantic schedule of trials and other court appearances for clients, often piloting his own Lear jet across the country for appointments.

From Washington Post

Airing in the years of the Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter administrations, All in the Family had much to explore, resulting in both praise and death threats for Lear, who earned a spot on Nixon’s enemies list.

From Time

As part of Lear’s televised lesson plan, he pushed to break TV taboos, much to the consternation of CBS head censor William Tankersley.

From Time

King Lear becomes Lear texting “okay who wants a kingdom,” to which Goneril replies “me me I do.”

From The Daily Beast

A new book from Mallory Ortberg imagines what literary legends including King Lear and Jane Eyre would have texted.

From The Daily Beast

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley Lear gave away his kingdom.

From The Daily Beast

If it were not the case, then there would be a Jonestown after every performance of King Lear.

From The Daily Beast

But he loved showing off the Lear as the party favor for a Hollywood that had everything.

From The Daily Beast

"'King Lear' may be recognized as the perfect model of the dramatic art of the whole world," says Shelley.

From Project Gutenberg

The drama of "Lear" begins with a scene giving the conversation between two courtiers, Kent and Gloucester.

From Project Gutenberg

Goneril's steward appears, and behaves rudely to Lear, for which Kent knocks him down.

From Project Gutenberg

But they are lost among long and high-flown speeches, which Lear keeps incessantly uttering quite inappropriately.

From Project Gutenberg

But Regan says she will receive him only with twenty-five and then Lear makes up his mind to go back to Goneril who admits fifty.

From Project Gutenberg