ignoramus

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌɪɡ.nəˈɹeɪ.məs/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ignōrāmus (“we do not know”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the first person plural present of ignōrāre “not to know”.^[2][4][5][6] It was originally a legal term, from New Latin and Anglo-French.^[2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The endorsement a grand jury formerly wrote on a bill of indictment when it found the evidence insufficient to send the case to trial (a1577).^[7][2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense “an ignorant person” (a1616) comes from Ignoramus, the title role in George Ruggle's Latin play of 1615 satirizing the ignorance of common lawyers.^{[7][4][5][3][6]} Because the Latin word is a verb and not a noun, the plural is ignoramuses.^[5][1]

Timeline

• a1577 – a grand jury's endorsement rejecting an indictment.^[7][4]
• 1615 – Ignoramus, a play by George Ruggle.^[4][3]
• a1616 – an ignorant person.^[7][4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An utterly ignorant person.
2. (law, historical) A grand jury's endorsement on an indictment found to have insufficient evidence.

Related words

• ignore
• ignorant

Usage notes

The plural is ignoramuses;^[5][1] ignorami is a humorous or nonstandard hypercorrection.^[1][5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press