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ignotus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word ignotus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Naevius
Ultimate origin
Latin (nōscō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪŋˈnoː.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iɲˈɲɔː.tus][1]

Forms

ignōtus (feminine ignōta, neuter ignōtum, comparative ignōtior, superlative ignōtissimus); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from the negative prefix in- and ⟨gnōtus⟩, the old form of nōtus “known”; compare ignārus and Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος (ágnōstos, “unknown”).[2][1][3] Cicero notes that the ⟨i⟩ is long before ⟨gn⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Naevius, whom he dates c. 235–200 BC.[5] The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus and Terence.[2]

Semantic evolution

It meant unknown, unfamiliar, strange, as in Terence, and of persons unknown, as Cicero's homō ignōtus, and as a noun a stranger, as in Plautus.[2][6] It meant lacking fame, obscure, as in Terence, and actively in the Rhetorica ad Herennium ignorant.[2]

Medieval Latin used it in the active sense, ignorant of something.[7] It survives in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese ignoto.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius has the word.[5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of strangers.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of the unknown and the obscure.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses homō ignōtus.[6][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Unknown, unfamiliar, strange.[2]
  2. Of persons, unknown; as a noun, a stranger.[2]
  3. Obscure, undistinguished.[2]
  4. Ignorant.[2][7]

Usage notes

Ignōtus is also the participle of ignōscō “to pardon”.[3][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Ignotus.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/ignotus. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·