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inexperienced

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Etymology and origin of the English word inexperienced

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1626 Gouge's Dignitie of Chiuvalrie
Ultimate origin
Latin experior

Pronunciation

  • /ɪnəkˈspɪəɹi.ənst/[1]

Etymology

The OED forms it from English in- + experienced,[2][3] while Etymonline and Dictionary.com take it as a past-participle adjective from inexperience.[4][5] Inexperience is from French inexpérience or directly from Late Latin inexperientia, from in- (“not”) and experientia (“experimental knowledge; experiment”),[4][2] the source of experience.[4] Johnson (1755) referred it to Latin inexpertus.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Without experience, or lacking the knowledge or skill that experience brings: 1626, in Gouge's Dignitie of Chiuvalrie.[2][7][4]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning, and is often followed by in.[2][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "not experienced".[6] It came a generation after the noun inexperience (1595) and about eighty years after experienced, which is recorded from 1541.[2]

Timeline

  • 1541 – experienced, having experience.[2]
  • 1595 – the noun inexperience.[2]
  • 1626 – inexperienced, lacking experience.[2][7]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Lacking practical experience, or the skill and knowledge it brings; untrained or green: an inexperienced driver.[8][2][3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Inexperienced.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/inexperienced. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·