ignore

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɪɡˈnɔː/, US /ɪɡˈnɔːr/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French ignorer (“to be unaware of”) or directly from Latin ignōrāre (“not to know; to disregard”),^[2][3] from ignārus “not knowing”,^[3][4] from i-, a form of in- “not”, and Old Latin gnārus “aware”,^[3][4] related to gnōscere, nōscere “to come to know”,^[3] the source of know.^[3][4] It was probably a dictionary word, influenced by ignorance and ignorant.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Not to know, to be ignorant of: 1611 in the OED and Barnhart, in Cotgrave's Dictionary, a sense now obsolete.^[5][3] The NODE dates that sense to the late 15th century.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, to pay no attention to, to disregard deliberately, is from 1801,^[5][3][2] and the OED notes that it was uncommon before about 1850.^[2] Of a grand jury, to reject a bill as not true, is from 1830.^[5]

Timeline

• 1611 – not to know.^[5][3]
• 1801 – to disregard.^[5][3]
• 1830 – of a grand jury, to reject a bill.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To pay no attention to someone or something deliberately.
2. To fail to take account of something.

Word family

• ignorable
• ignorer

Related words

• ignorance
• ignorant
• know
• ignoramus

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press