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Origin and history of ignore

ignore(v.)

1610s, "not to know, to be ignorant of," from French ignorer "be unaware of" (14c.), or directly from Latin ignorare "not to know, be unacquainted; take no notice of, disregard" (see ignorant). The original sense in English is obsolete. Sense of "pass over without notice, pay no attention to" in English first recorded 1801 (Barnhart says "probably a dictionary word"), and OED indicates it was uncommon before c. 1850. Related: Ignored; ignoring.

also from 1610s

Entries linking to ignore

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.

*gno-

*gnō-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to know."

It might form all or part of: acknowledge; acquaint; agnostic; anagnorisis; astrognosy; can (v.1) "have power to, be able;" cognition; cognizance; con (n.2) "study;" connoisseur; could; couth; cunning; diagnosis; ennoble; gnome; (n.2) "short, pithy statement of general truth;" gnomic; gnomon; gnosis; gnostic; Gnostic; ignoble; ignorant; ignore; incognito; ken (n.1) "cognizance, intellectual view;" kenning; kith; know; knowledge; narrate; narration; nobility; noble; notice; notify; notion; notorious; physiognomy; prognosis; quaint; recognize; reconnaissance; reconnoiter; uncouth; Zend.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit jna- "know;" Avestan zainti- "knowledge," Old Persian xšnasatiy "he shall know;" Old Church Slavonic znati "recognizes," Russian znat "to know;" Latin gnoscere "get to know," nobilis "known, famous, noble;" Greek gignōskein "to know," gnōtos "known," gnōsis "knowledge, inquiry;" Old Irish gnath "known;" German kennen "to know," Gothic kannjan "to make known."

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    Trends of ignore

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    notice
    early 15c., "information, knowledge, intelligence," from Old French notece (14c.), and directly from Latin notitia "a being known, celebrity, fame, knowledge," from notus "known," past participle of (g)noscere "come to know, to get to know, get acquainted (with)," from PIE *gno-s
    know
    Old English cnawan (class VII strong verb; past tense cneow, past participle cnawen), "perceive a thing to be identical with another," also "be able to distinguish" generally (tocnawan); "perceive or understand as a fact or truth" (opposed to believe); "know how (to do something)
    dismiss
    early 15c., dismissen, "release from court restraint or legal charges;" late 15c., "remove from office, service, or employment," apparently from Latin dimissus, past participle of dimittere "send away, send different ways; break up, discharge; renounce, abandon," from dis- "apart
    pine
    As the Scotch fir is not a fir strictly speaking, but a pine, & as we shall continue to ignore this fact, it is plain...
    blow
    Slang blow (someone or something) off "dismiss, ignore" is by 1986....
    back
    To turn (one's) back on (someone or something) "ignore" is from early 14c....
    treat
    c. 1300, "negotiate, bargain, deal with," from Old French traitier "deal with, act toward; set forth (in speech or writing)" (12c.), from Latin tractare "manage, handle, deal with, conduct oneself toward," originally "drag about, tug, haul, pull violently," frequentative of trahe
    cold shoulder
    1816, in the figurative sense of "icy reception, studied neglect or indifference," first in Sir Walter Scott, probably originally a literal figure (see cold (adj.)), but commonly used with a punning reference to "cold shoulder of mutton," considered a poor man's dish and thus, pe
    discount
    1620s, "abatement" (a sense now obsolete), alteration of French descompte (16c., Modern French décompte), from Medieval Latin discomputus (source of Italian disconto), from discomputare, from dis- (see dis-) + computare "to count" (see compute). Commercial meaning "deduction for
    snub
    mid-14c., "to check, reprove, rebuke," from Old Norse snubba, Old Danish snebbe, "to curse, chide, snub, scold, reprove." The etymological sense is perhaps "to cut off," and the word probably is related to snip. Compare Swedish snobba "lop off, snuff (a candle)," Old Norse snubbo

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