education Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill
    instruction; educational activity; didactics; teaching; pedagogy.
    • he received no formal education
    • our instruction was carefully programmed
    • good classroom teaching is seldom rewarded
  2. noun knowledge acquired by learning and instruction
    • it was clear that he had a very broad education
  3. noun the gradual process of acquiring knowledge
    • education is a preparation for life
    • a girl's education was less important than a boy's
  4. noun the profession of teaching (especially at a school or college or university)
  5. noun the result of good upbringing (especially knowledge of correct social behavior)
    training; breeding.
    • a woman of breeding and refinement
  6. noun the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with education (including federal aid to educational institutions and students); created 1979
    Education Department; Department of Education.

WordNet

Ed`u*ca"tion noun
Etymology
L. educatio; cf. F. éducation.
Definitions
  1. The act or process of educating; the result of educating, as determined by the knowledge skill, or discipline of character, acquired; also, the act or process of training by a prescribed or customary course of study or discipline; as, an education for the bar or the pulpit; he has finished his education.
    To prepare us for complete living is the function which education has to discharge. H. Spenser.
    Syn. -- Education, Instruction, Teaching, Training, Breeding. Education, properly a drawing forth, implies not so much the communication of knowledge as the discipline of the intellect, the establishment of the principles, and the regulation of the heart. Instruction is that part of education which furnishes the mind with knowledge. Teaching is the same, being simply more familiar. It is also applied to practice; as, teaching to speak a language; teaching a dog to do tricks. Training is a department of education in which the chief element is exercise or practice for the purpose of imparting facility in any physical or mental operation. Breeding commonly relates to the manners and outward conduct.

Webster 1913