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ignorant

 - 3 dictionary results

ig⋅no⋅rant

[ig-ner-uhnt]
–adjective
1. lacking in knowledge or training; unlearned: an ignorant man.
2. lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact: ignorant of quantum physics.
3. uninformed; unaware.
4. due to or showing lack of knowledge or training: an ignorant statement.

Origin:
1325–75; ME ignora(u)nt < L ignōrant- (s. of ignōrāns), prp. of ignōrāre to ignore; see -ant


ig⋅no⋅rant⋅ly, adverb
ig⋅no⋅rant⋅ness, noun


1. uninstructed, untutored, untaught. Ignorant, illiterate, unlettered, uneducated mean lacking in knowledge or in training. Ignorant may mean knowing little or nothing, or it may mean uninformed about a particular subject: An ignorant person can be dangerous. I confess I'm ignorant of mathematics. Illiterate originally meant lacking a knowledge of literature or similar learning, but is most often applied now to one unable to read or write: necessary training for illiterate soldiers. Unlettered emphasizes the idea of being without knowledge of literature: unlettered though highly trained in science. Uneducated refers especially to lack of schooling or to lack of access to a body of knowledge equivalent to that learned in schools: uneducated but highly intelligent. 2. unenlightened.


1. literate. 2. learned.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ignorant
ig·no·rant   (ĭg'nər-ənt)   
adj.  
  1. Lacking education or knowledge.

  2. Showing or arising from a lack of education or knowledge: an ignorant mistake.

  3. Unaware or uninformed.


[Middle English ignoraunt, from Old French ignorant, from Latin ignōrāns, ignōrant-, present participle of ignōrāre, to be ignorant, not to know; see gnō- in Indo-European roots.]
ig'no·rant·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ignorant 
c.1374, from O.Fr. ignorant, from L. ignorantia, from ignorantem, prp. of ignorare from in- "not" + Old L. gnarus "aware, acquainted with," from Porot-L. suffixed form *gno-ro-, related to gnoscere "to know" (see know). Form influenced by ignotus "unknown." Cf. also see uncouth. Colloquial sense of "ill-mannered" first attested 1886. Ignorance is attested c.1225, from O.Fr. ignorance, from L. ignorantia.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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