Contents -AUTHOR INDEX -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Mawson, C.O.S., ed. (1870–1938). Roget’s International Thesaurus. 1922.

Class IV. Words Relating to the Intellectual Faculties
Division (I) Formation of Ideas
Section V. Results of Reasoning

491. Ignorance.

   NOUN:IGNORANCE, nescience, tabula rasa [L.], illiteracy, unlearnedness, crass ignorance, ignorance crasse [F.]; unacquaintance; unconsciousness &c. adj.; darkness, blindness; incomprehension, inexperience, simplicity.
  sealed book, terra incognita [L.], virgin soil, unexplored ground; dark ages.
  unknown quantities; x, y, z.
  [IMPERFECT KNOWLEDGE] smattering, superficiality, half-learning, shallowness, sciolism, glimmering; bewilderment (uncertainty) [See Uncertainty]; incapacity.
  [AFFECTATION OF KNOWLEDGE] pedantry, charlatanry, charlatanism; Philistine, Philister [Ger.].
   VERB:BE IGNORANT &c. adj.; not know [See Knowledge]; know -not, – not what, – nothing of; have no -idea, – notion, – conception; not have the remotest idea; not know chalk from cheese; not know a B from a -bull’s foot, – battledore, – broomstick.
  ignore, be blind to; keep in ignorance (conceal) [See Concealment].
  see through a glass darkly; have a film over the eyes, have a glimmering &c. n.; wonder whether; not know what to make of (unintelligibility) [See Unintelligibility]; not pretend to say, not take upon oneself to say.
   ADJECTIVE:IGNORANT; nescient; unknowing, unaware, unacquainted, unapprized, unwitting, unweeting [obs.], unconscious; witless, weetless [obs.]; a stranger to; unconversant.
  UNINFORMED, uncultivated, unversed, uninstructed, untaught, uninitiated, untutored, unschooled, unscholarly, unguided, unenlightened; Philistine; behind the age.
  SHALLOW, superficial, green, rude, empty, half-learned, half-baked [colloq.], low-brow [slang]; illiterate; unread, uninformed, uneducated, unlearned, unlettered, unbookish; empty-headed; pedantic.
  IN THE DARK; benighted, belated; blinded, blindfold; hoodwinked; misinformed; au bout de son latin [F.], at the end of his tether, at fault; at sea (uncertain) [See Uncertainty]; caught tripping, caught napping.
  UNKNOWN, unapprehended, unexplained, unascertained, uninvestigated, unexplored, unheard of, unperceived; concealed [See Concealment]; novel.
   ADVERB:IGNORANTLY &c. adj.; unawares; for anything one knows, for aught one knows; not that one knows.
   INTERJECTION:God -, Heaven -, the Lord -, dear [dial.] -, nobody- knows!    QUOTATIONS:

1. Ignorance never settles a question.—Disraeli
2. Quantum animis erroris inest!—Ovid
3. Small Latin and less Greek.—B. Jonson
4. That unlettered, small-knowing soul.—Love’s Labor’s Lost
5. There is no darkness but ignorance.—Twelfth Night
6. A little learning is a dangerous thing.—Pope
7. Only are reputed wise For saying nothing.—Merchant of Venice