ignoramus

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪɡnəˈɹeɪməs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪməs

Etymology 1

After the ignorant lawyer Ignoramus, the titular character in the 1615 play Ignoramus by the English playwright Georges Ruggle; from Latin ignōrāmus (“we do not know, we are ignorant of”), the first-person plural present active indicative of ignōrō (“I do not know, I am unacquainted with, I am ignorant of”).

Alternative forms

• ignoramous (nonstandard)

Noun

ignoramus (plural ignoramuses or ignorami)

1. A totally ignorant person—unknowledgeable, uneducated, or uninformed; a fool.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ignoramus

   • 2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

     “I am sorry to say your History teacher is an ignoramus! She can’t even spell ‘Bayeux’!”

Usage notes

The hyper-correct plural form ignorami is seen by most as humorous and non-standard, as the word derives from a Latin verb, not from a noun.

Translations

totally ignorant person

• Bashkir: (тома) наҙан ((toma) naźan)
• Bulgarian: невежа (bg) m (neveža)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無知的人／无知的人 (wúzhī de rén), 笨蛋 (zh) (bèndàn), 愚人 (zh) (yúrén)

• Czech: ignorant (cs) m, nevědomec m
• Finnish: tolvana (fi), tomppeli (fi)
• French: ignare (fr)
• Georgian: უვიცი (uvici)
• German: Ignorant (de) m, Nichtswisser m, unwissender Mensch m, unwissende Person f, Dummkopf (de) m (pejorative); (for female persons only) Ignorantin (de) f, Nichtswisserin f,
• Hungarian: tudatlan (ember/alak/fráter)
• Icelandic: fávís maður m, fáfróður maður m
• Irish: abhlóir m, ainbhiosán m, aineolaí m, amadán m, dalldramán m, graoisín m, tuata m
• Italian: ignorante (it)
• Korean: 무식쟁이 (musikjaeng'i)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: cahil (ku) m or f, nezan (ku), bêhiş (ku)

• Maori: rorirori
• Polish: ignorant (pl) m, ignorantka (pl) f, nieuk (pl) m, abnegat (pl) m, abnegatka f
• Russian: неве́жда (ru) m or f (nevéžda), не́уч (ru) m or f (néuč), профа́н (ru) m (profán), незна́йка (ru) m or f (neznájka)
• Spanish: ignaro (es) m
• Swedish: dumhuvud (sv) n
• Ukrainian: неві́глас m (nevíhlas), незна́йко m (neznájko), не́ук (uk) m (néuk), профа́н m (profán), анальфабе́т (uk) m (analʹfabét) (literary, dated)
• Yiddish: עם־⁠האָרץ m (amorets)

Etymology 2

Directly from Latin ignōrāmus (“we do not know”).

Noun

ignoramus (plural ignoramuses)

1. (law, dated) A grand jury's ruling on an indictment when the evidence is determined to be insufficient to send the case to trial.

Verb

ignoramus (third-person singular simple present ignoramuses, present participle ignoramusing, simple past and past participle ignoramused)

1. (law, transitive) To make such a ruling against (an indictment).

Anagrams

• graminous, origanums

Latin

Etymology 1

Verb

ignōrāmus

1. first-person plural present active indicative of ignōrō

Etymology 2

Verb

ignōrāmus

1. first-person plural pluperfect active indicative of ignōscō