ignoramus
English
editPronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ɪɡnəˈɹeɪməs/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪməs
Etymology 1
editAfter 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
editNoun
editignoramus (plural ignoramuses or ignorami)
- 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
editThe 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
edittotally ignorant person
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Etymology 2
editDirectly from Latin ignōrāmus (“we do not know”).
Noun
editignoramus (plural ignoramuses)
- (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
editignoramus (third-person singular simple present ignoramuses, present participle ignoramusing, simple past and past participle ignoramused)
- (law, transitive) To make such a ruling against (an indictment).
Anagrams
editLatin
editEtymology 1
editVerb
editignōrāmus
Etymology 2
editVerb
editignōrāmus
Categories:
- English 4-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/eɪməs
- Rhymes:English/eɪməs/4 syllables
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵneh₃-
- English terms derived from Latin
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English nouns with irregular plurals
- English terms with quotations
- en:Law
- English dated terms
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- en:People
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