to pay no attention or too little attention to; disregard or slight: The public neglected his genius for many years.
2.
to be remiss in the care or treatment of: to neglect one's family; to neglect one's appearance.
3.
to omit, through indifference or carelessness: to neglect to reply to an invitation.
4.
to fail to carry out or perform (orders, duties, etc.): to neglect the household chores.
5.
to fail to take or use: to neglect no precaution.
–noun
6.
an act or instance of neglecting; disregard; negligence: The neglect of the property was shameful.
7.
the fact or state of being neglected: a beauty marred by neglect.
[Origin: 1520–30; < L negléctus, var. of necléctus (ptp. of neglegere, neclegere to disregard, ignore, slight), equiv. to nec not + leg-, base of legere to pick up + -tus ptp. suffix]
—Related forms
ne·glect·ed·ly, adverb
ne·glect·ed·ness, noun
ne·glect·er, ne·glec·tor, noun
—Synonyms 1. ignore. See slight.6, 7. default, inattention, heedlessness. Neglect,dereliction,negligence,remissness imply carelessness, failure, or some important omission in the performance of one's duty, a task, etc. Neglect and negligence are occasionally interchangeable, but neglect commonly refers to an instance, negligence to the habit or trait, of failing to attend to or perform what is expected or required: gross neglect of duty; negligence in handling traffic problems. Dereliction implies culpable or reprehensible neglect or failure in the performance of duty: dereliction in a position of responsibility. Remissness implies the omission or the careless or indifferent performance of a duty: remissness in filing a report on the accident.
1529, from L. neglectus, pp. of neglegere "to make light of, disregard," lit. "not to pick up," variant of neclegere, from Old L. nec "not" (see deny) + legere "pick up, select" (see lecture). The noun is first attested 1588.
the state of something that has been unused and neglected; "the house was in a terrible state of neglect"
3.
willful lack of care and attention [syn: disregard]
4.
the trait of neglecting responsibilities and lacking concern [syn: negligence]
5.
failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would exercise under the same circumstances [syn: negligence]
verb
1.
leave undone or leave out; "How could I miss that typo?"; "The workers on the conveyor belt miss one out of ten" [ant: attend to]
2.
fail to do something; leave something undone; "She failed to notice that her child was no longer in his crib"; "The secretary failed to call the customer and the company lost the account" [syn: fail]
3.
fail to attend to; "he neglects his children"
4.
give little or no attention to; "Disregard the errors"
Neg*lect"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Neglected; p. pr. & vb. n. Neglecting.] [L. neglectus, p. p. of neglegere (negligere) to disregard, neglect, the literal sense prob. neing, not to pick up; nec not, nor (fr. ne not + -que, a particle akin to Goth. -h, -uh, and prob. to E. who; cf. Goth. nih nor) + L. legere to pick up, gather. See No, adv., Legend, Who.]1. Not to attend to with due care or attention; to forbear one's duty in regard to; to suffer to pass unimproved, unheeded, undone, etc.; to omit; to disregard; to slight; as, to neglect duty or business; to neglect to pay debts. I hope My absence doth neglect no great designs. --Shak. This, my long suffering and my day of grace, Those who neglect and scorn shall never taste. --Milton. 2. To omit to notice; to forbear to treat with attention or respect; to slight; as, to neglect strangers. Syn: To slight; overlook; disregard; disesteem; contemn. See Slight.
Neg*lect"\, n. [L. neglectus. See Neglect, v.]1. Omission of proper attention; avoidance or disregard of duty, from heedlessness, indifference, or willfulness; failure to do, use, or heed anything; culpable disregard; as, neglect of business, of health, of economy. To tell thee sadly, shepherd, without blame, Or our neglect, we lost her as we came. --Milton. 2. Omission if attention or civilities; slight; as, neglect of strangers. 3. Habitual carelessness; negligence. Age breeds neglect in all. --Denham. 4. The state of being disregarded, slighted, or neglected. Rescue my poor remains from vile neglect. --Prior. Syn: Negligence; inattention; disregard; disesteem; remissness; indifference. See Negligence.
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