lær

Lær is a short, polysemous word found in several Nordic languages, where its meaning varies by language and context. In Danish and Norwegian, lær most commonly appears as a verb form related to the verb lære, meaning to learn or to teach. In these languages, it is typically encountered in imperative or conjugated forms, such as an imperative meaning “learn!” or as part of inflected forms tied to person and tense. The exact function depends on the sentence and dialect.

As a noun, lær also appears in Norwegian in reference to leather, the material produced from animal hides. In this usage, it stands as a separate meaning from the verbal forms and is used in contexts pertaining to clothing, goods, and crafts.

Orthography and pronunciation vary. The diacritic æ (as in lær) marks a distinct vowel sound in Norwegian and Danish, while related forms in other Nordic languages may use slightly different spellings or diacritics (for example, lära/lära in other forms of the same root in Swedish).

Etymology and cognates: lær is related to the common Germanic roots underlying words for learning and teaching across Scandinavian languages. While the exact spelling and sense shift across languages, the core idea connects to knowledge acquisition in the verbal sense and to a separate noun meaning leather in some contexts.

See also: leather, learn, teach, language.