English
ignorance
Ignorance comes from Middle English ignoraunce.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ignoraunce
- Englishearliest quotation 1956ignorance
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ignoraunce
- Englishearliest quotation 1956ignorance
Earliest quotation: 1956, Notes and News: The Barby Sidings Accident Report: “The guard was paying no attention whatever to the…”
Equivalent to ignore + -ance
Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’
Latin īgnōrō ‘to have no knowledge of’
French ignorer ‘to ignore’
English ignore
Every English word from Middle English ignoraunce
Today it means
noun The condition of being uninformed or uneducated; lack of knowledge or information.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English ignoraunce / ignorance