Studies

How to spell studies

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce studies

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does studies mean?

1. nounAreas of academic learning, or pieces of detailed research and investigation.
2. verbDevotes time and attention to learning or examining something (he, she, or it form).

Studies in a sentence

• noun

  Her university studies focused on medieval history.

• verb

  She studies for two hours every evening before her exams.

• noun

  Several recent studies link poor sleep to lower productivity.

• verb

  The analyst carefully studies the quarterly figures before advising clients.

Where does studies come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is an inflected form of 'study', which English took from the Old French estudie and estudier in the 1200s and 1300s. Behind the French lies the Latin studium, a noun meaning 'zeal', 'eagerness', or 'painstaking application', built on the verb studere, 'to be diligent' or 'to apply oneself'. The earliest English sense kept that flavour of devoted effort, and only gradually did it settle into the modern idea of learning a subject or examining something closely. The same Latin root still shows through in 'student' and 'studio', and even in 'studious'. When 'study' takes a plural or third-person ending, the final y becomes i before -es, which is exactly the spelling step that trips writers who expect 'studys'.

How the word is built

• stud- (from Latin studium: zeal, eager application)
• -ies (plural/third-person inflection of 'study', with y changed to i before -es)