ignorare

Forms

ignorare (first-person singular present ignòro, first-person singular past historic ignorài, past participle ignoràto, auxiliary avére)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ignōrō (“not to know”), a learned word.^[2][3][4][5] DELI and Nocentini connect the Latin verb and its derivatives with ignārus (“not knowing”) (Italian ignaro), and Nocentini explains its long ⟨ō⟩ by the influence of ignōtus (“unknown”).^[2][3][6] De Vaan instead derives it from Proto-Italic *gnōs-, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-s- (“to recognize, know”), with cognates in Hittite and Sanskrit.^[7]

The same learned word is French ignorer, recorded from the 14th century, and Spanish ignorar.^[3][8][9] From the Latin first person singular, “I don't know”, Italian made the popular gnorri, as in fare lo gnorri “to play dumb”.^[10][11]

The sense “to pretend not to know, take no notice of” follows German and English usage: Lessing brought it into German in 1770, and Migliorini called it improper in 1942.^[2] Sabatini–Coletti also traces this transitive use to English ignore.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Tuscan Fiore di rettorica, before 1292, in the sense “to have no knowledge or experience of something”.^[5] DELI gives G. Villani, before 1348, for “not to know”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian already used the verb for “to disregard, fail to take into account”.^[5] Villani writes of a man who followed a beast into a forest, ignorando quello che avvenisse di lui e' compagni (“his companions not knowing what had become of him”).^[9] Tommaseo–Bellini distinguished it from non sapere: ignorare often implies the fault of carelessness about what one should know.^[13]

The sense “to pretend not to know” is recorded in A. Buonafede in 1785, and “to underrate, neglect” in Mazzini, before 1872.^[2] Of the derivatives, ignoranza appears in Dante (1313–1319), ignorante in Giordano da Pisa (before 1311), and ignorantaggine in the first Crusca dictionary of 1612.^[2]

Timeline

• Before 1292 – First record, in the Fiore di rettorica.^[5]
• Before 1311 – Ignorante appears in Giordano da Pisa.^[2]
• 1313–1319 – Dante uses ignoranza.^[2]
• Before 1348 – G. Villani uses ignorare “not to know”.^[2][4]
• 14th century – French ignorer is first recorded.^[8][9]
• 1612 – Ignorantaggine appears in the first Crusca dictionary.^[2]
• 1770 – Lessing introduces the sense “to pretend not to know” into German.^[2]
• 1785 – A. Buonafede uses ignorare “to pretend not to know”.^[2]
• Before 1872 – Mazzini uses it for “to underrate, neglect”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) Not to know, to be unaware of: Ignoravo che il negozio fosse chiuso il lunedì.^[4][14][12]
2. (transitive) Never to have experienced: Ignora la fatica del lavoro nei campi.^[15][16]
3. (transitive) To ignore, pretend not to know or see someone: Quando mi incontra per strada, mi ignora.^[4][14][12]
4. (transitive) To disregard, not take into account: Ha ignorato tutti gli avvertimenti del medico.^[4][14][15]
5. (reciprocal, ignorarsi) To pretend not to know each other.^[15][12][14]

Word family

• ignorante
• ignoranza
• ignorantaggine
• ignorato
• ignorabile

Related words

• ignaro
• ignoto
• gnorri
• narrare
• French ignorer
• Latin ignōrō

Usage notes

In shipping, ignoro peso (“weight unknown”) is a clause in bills of lading by which the master states he has not checked the weight of the cargo loaded.^[6][4]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
6. ^ a b Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
8. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1929
9. ^ a b c Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli