Origin and history of ignorant

ignorant(adj.)

late 14c., "lacking wisdom or knowledge; unaware," from Old French ignorant (14c.), from Latin ignorantem (nominative ignorans) "not knowing, ignorant," present participle of ignorare "not to know, to be unacquainted; mistake, misunderstand; take no notice of, pay no attention to."

This is from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + Old Latin gnarus "aware, acquainted with" (source also of Classical Latin noscere "to know," notus "known"), from Proto-Latin suffixed form *gno-ro-, suffixed form of PIE root *gno- "to know."

A native word for it in Middle English was uncunning. Also compare uncouth.

Form influenced by related Latin ignotus "unknown, strange, unrecognized, unfamiliar." Colloquial sense of "ill-mannered, uncouth, knowing nothing of good manners" attested by 1886. As a noun, "ignorant person," from mid-15c. Related: Ignorantly.

also from late 14c.

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uncouth(adj.)

Old English uncuð , of facts, lands, persons, peoples, "unknown, unidentified;" hence "strange, unusual, suspicious; uncertain, unfamiliar;" also "unfriendly, unkind, rough," from un- (1) "not" + cuð "known, well-known," past participle of cunnan "to know" (see can (v.1)).

The meaning "strange and awkward, crude, clumsy" is recorded by mid-15c., perhaps late 14c. Related: Uncouthly; uncouthness. Shortened form unco "strange, unusual" is by early 15c., also unked (c. 1300), etc.

The compound and the notion it describes are widespread in IE languages, such as Latin ignorantem, Old Norse ukuðr, Gothic unkunþs, Sanskrit ajnatah, Armenian ancanaut', Greek agnotos, Old Irish ingnad "unknown."

ignoramus(n.)

1570s, originally an Anglo-French legal term (early 15c.), from Latin ignoramus "we take no notice of, we do not know," first person plural present indicative of ignorare "not to know, take no notice of" (see ignorant). The legal term was one a grand jury could write on a bill when it considered the prosecution's evidence insufficient. Sense of "ignorant person" (1616) came from the title role in George Ruggle's 1615 play in Latin satirizing the ignorance of common lawyers. The plural is ignoramuses as it never was a noun in Latin.

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Origin and history of ignorant

ignorant(adj.)

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