nescio

See also: néscio

Esperanto

Etymology

From ne- +‎ scio. Akin to Latin nescius (“ignorant”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [nesˈt͡sio]
• Rhymes: -io
• Hyphenation: nes‧ci‧o

Noun

nescio (accusative singular nescion, plural nescioj, accusative plural nesciojn)

1. ignorance

   Synonyms: malinteligento, malinteligenteco, malsaĝo, malsagêco, stulto, stulteco

Related terms

• nescia

Italian

Etymology

From Latin nescius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnɛʃ.ʃo/
• Rhymes: -ɛʃʃo
• Hyphenation: nè‧scio

Adjective

nescio (feminine nescia, masculine plural nesci, feminine plural nescie or nesce)

1. (archaic) nescient, ignorant, unaware

Further reading

• nescio in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• cenosi, coseni, cosine, inceso, osceni

Latin

FWOTD – 12 May 2016

Alternative forms

• nōn sciō, nōsciō (nonstandard when used as a full synonym)

Etymology

From Latin ne- (“not”) +‎ sciō (“I know”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈnes.ki.oː/, [ˈnɛs̠kioː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈneʃ.ʃi.o/, [ˈnɛʃːio]

Verb

nesciō (present infinitive nescīre, perfect active nescīvī or nesciī, supine nescītum); fourth conjugation

1. to not know, to be ignorant, to not understand
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.565–566:

     “Quis genus Aeneadum? Quis Troiae nesciat urbem,
     virtūtēsque, virōsque, aut tantī incendia bellī?”

     “Who does not know the race of Aeneas? Who [has never heard of] the city of Troy, and its courage, and heroes, or the flames of that great war?”

   • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 6.255–256:

     sed quae nescieram, quōrumque errōre tenēbar,
     cognita sunt nūllō praecipiente mihi.

     But [those things] of which I had not known, as well as those I misunderstood, were [suddenly] known to me without anyone having taught [them to me].
     (The poet receives divine enlightenment during an encounter with Vesta (mythology); see also Vestalia.)

   Synonym: ignōrō

   Antonyms: sciō, sentiō, cōnsciō, nōscō, inveniō

   • Carl von Linné, Critica botanica :

     Nōmina sī nescīs, perit et cognitio rērum

     If you do not know names, the knowledge of the things is also lost

   • From For Marcus Caelius by Cicero (Latin and English translation may be found here, also English and Latin on Wikisource)

     Quae tu quoniam mente nescio qua effrenata atque praecipiti in forum deferri iudiciumque voluisti, aut diluas oportet ac falsa esse doceas aut nihil neque crimini tuo neque testimonio credendum esse fateare.

     And as for you, since, through some unbridled and headlong fury which I cannot comprehend you have chosen these things to be brought into court, and dilated on at this trial, you must either efface the charges yourself, and show that they are without foundation, or else you must confess that no credit is to be given to any accusations which you may make, or to any evidence which you may give.

   Nōmen nesciō (N. N.) ― I do not know the name

Conjugation

   Conjugation of nesciō (fourth conjugation)

indicative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	nesciō	nescīs	nescit	nescīmus	nescītis	nesciunt
	imperfect	nesciēbam	nesciēbās	nesciēbat	nesciēbāmus	nesciēbātis	nesciēbant
	future	nesciam	nesciēs	nesciet	nesciēmus	nesciētis	nescient
	perfect	nescīvī, nesciī	nescīvistī, nesciistī	nescīvit, nesciit	nescīvimus, nesciimus	nescīvistis, nesciistis	nescīvērunt, nescīvēre, nesciērunt, nesciēre
	pluperfect	nescīveram, nescieram	nescīverās, nescierās	nescīverat, nescierat	nescīverāmus, nescierāmus	nescīverātis, nescierātis	nescīverant, nescierant
	future perfect	nescīverō, nescierō	nescīveris, nescieris	nescīverit, nescierit	nescīverimus, nescierimus	nescīveritis, nescieritis	nescīverint, nescierint
passive	present	nescior	nescīris, nescīre	nescītur	nescīmur	nescīminī	nesciuntur
	imperfect	nesciēbar	nesciēbāris, nesciēbāre	nesciēbātur	nesciēbāmur	nesciēbāminī	nesciēbantur
	future	nesciar	nesciēris, nesciēre	nesciētur	nesciēmur	nesciēminī	nescientur
	perfect	nescītus + present active indicative of sum
	pluperfect	nescītus + imperfect active indicative of sum
	future perfect	nescītus + future active indicative of sum
subjunctive		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	nesciam	nesciās	nesciat	nesciāmus	nesciātis	nesciant
	imperfect	nescīrem	nescīrēs	nescīret	nescīrēmus	nescīrētis	nescīrent
	perfect	nescīverim, nescierim	nescīverīs, nescierīs	nescīverit, nescierit	nescīverīmus, nescierīmus	nescīverītis, nescierītis	nescīverint, nescierint
	pluperfect	nescīvissem, nesciissem	nescīvissēs, nesciissēs	nescīvisset, nesciisset	nescīvissēmus, nesciissēmus	nescīvissētis, nesciissētis	nescīvissent, nesciissent
passive	present	nesciar	nesciāris, nesciāre	nesciātur	nesciāmur	nesciāminī	nesciantur
	imperfect	nescīrer	nescīrēris, nescīrēre	nescīrētur	nescīrēmur	nescīrēminī	nescīrentur
	perfect	nescītus + present active subjunctive of sum
	pluperfect	nescītus + imperfect active subjunctive of sum
imperative		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
active	present	—	nescī	—	—	nescīte	—
	future	—	nescītō	nescītō	—	nescītōte	nesciuntō
passive	present	—	nescīre	—	—	nescīminī	—
	future	—	nescītor	nescītor	—	—	nesciuntor
non-finite forms		active			passive
		present	perfect	future	present	perfect	future
infinitives		nescīre	nescīvisse, nesciisse	nescītūrum esse	nescīrī	nescītum esse	nescītum īrī
participles		nesciēns	—	nescītūrus	—	nescītus	nesciendus, nesciundus
verbal nouns		gerund				supine
		genitive	dative	accusative	ablative	accusative	ablative
		nesciendī	nesciendō	nesciendum	nesciendō	nescītum	nescītū

Descendants

• Aromanian: nishti
• → English: nescient
• Italian: nescire
• Megleno-Romanian: niști
• Romanian: nești, neștine, niște, niscai

References

• “nescio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “nescio”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• nescio in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • by some chance or other: nescio quo casu (with Indic.)
    
  • an anonymous writer: nescio quis
    
  • the book is attributed to an unknown writer: liber refertur ad nescio quem auctorem
    

Ligurian

Noun

nescio

1. Alternative form of nesciu

Spanish

Adjective

nescio (feminine nescia, masculine plural nescios, feminine plural nescias)

1. Obsolete spelling of necio.

Further reading

• “nescio”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10