Etymologically
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ignoro

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪŋˈnoː.roː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iɲˈɲɔː.ro][1]

Forms

ignōrō (present infinitive ignōrāre, perfect active ignōrāvī, supine ignōrātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is formed with the negative prefix in- on a verb of knowing, inherited from Proto-Italic *gnōs-, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-s- (“to recognize, know”).[2] It has often been taken as a verb made from ignārus “not knowing”, with ā replaced by ō after ignōtus; de Vaan finds this unlikely, since gnārus itself kept its ā, and prefers Nussbaum's proposal of a present *gnō-sā- “to know”, from a noun “knowledge” or from a PIE s-present.[2][1] Cognate with Hittite kane/išš-zi (“to recognize, acknowledge”) and Tocharian A kñasäṣt (“you recognized”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Plautus,[2] who has a character fear that someone will fail to recognize him.[3] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it meant not to know or be unaware of something, to know nothing about a person or subject, and to fail to recognize someone.[3] It could also mean to act as if one did not know, to take no notice of or ignore, though Wiktionary calls this use rare.[3][1]

The derivative ignōrantia appears from Lucretius.[2] English ignoramus, “we take no notice of”, began as an Anglo-French legal endorsement on a bill rejected by a grand jury, and English ignore first meant “not to know”.[5] The verb was borrowed into the Romance languages as Italian ignorare and French ignorer, while Catalan enyorar “to long for” continues it by inheritance.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of failing to recognize someone.[3][4]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of not knowing a person.[3][4]
  • 1570s – English ignoramus is recorded, from an Anglo-French legal term of the early 15th century.[5]
  • 1610s – English ignore “not to know” is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Not to know, to be ignorant or unaware of.[3]
  2. To know nothing about, be unfamiliar with.[3]
  3. To fail to recognize.[3]
  4. To act as if unaware of, take no notice of, ignore.[3][1]

Word family

  • dignōrō
  • ignōrābilis
  • ignōrantia
  • ignōrātiō

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com