LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

ignārus

ignārus (feminine ignāra, neuter ignārum, comparative ignārior, superlative ignārissimus)
Classical[ɪŋˈnaː.rʊs]Ecclesiastical[iɲˈɲaː.rus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectiveignorant, unaware, not knowing
    neque enim ignārī sumus ante malōrum“neither indeed are we unaware of earlier misfortunes”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.198
  2. adjectiveincapable, incompetent, unable

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī nihil scit; ignārus omnium rērum.
ignārus -a -um — in Mille Verba, Aula Rēgia
quī nescit, expers
ignārus -a -um — in Aeneis, ch. 4

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Cognitio · Notitia · Scientia · Ignarus · Inscius · Nescius

1. Cognitio is an act of the mind by which knowledge is acquired, whereas notitia and scientia denote a state of the mind; notitia, together with nosse, denotes a state of the merely receptive faculties of the mind, which brings an external appearance to consciousness, and retains it there; whereas scientia, together with scire, involves spontaneous activity, and a perception of truth; notitia may be the result of casual perception; scientia implies a thorough knowledge of its object, the result of mental activity. Cic. Sen. 4, 12. Quanta notitia antiquitatis! quanta scientia juris Romani! 2. The ignarus is without notitia, the inscius without scientia. Tac. H. i. 11. Ægyptum provinciam insciam legum, ignaram magistratuum; for legislation is a science, and must be studied; government an art, and may be learnt by practice. 3. Inscius denotes a person who has not learnt something, with blame; nescius, who has accidentally not heard of, or experienced something, indifferently. Cic. Brut. 83. Inscium omnium rerum et rudem. Compare this with Plin. Ep. viii. 23, Absens et impendentis mali nescius. (v. 266.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeignārusignāraignārum
genitiveignārīignāraeignārī
dativeignārōignāraeignārō
accusativeignārumignāramignārum
ablativeignārōignārāignārō
vocativeignāreignāraignārum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativeignārīignāraeignāra
genitiveignārōrumignārārumignārōrum
dativeignārīsignārīsignārīs
accusativeignārōsignārāsignāra
ablativeignārīsignārīsignārīs
vocativeignārīignāraeignāra

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

non sum ignarus, nescius (not non sum inscius)
I know very well.

ignārus, a, um (also, † ignarures ἀγνοοῦντες, Gloss. Philox.; v. gnarus
I. init.), adj. in-gnarus, like ignavus, ignotus, from the negative in and gnavus, gnotus, ignorant of a thing, not knowing, unacquainted with, inexperienced, unaware (syn.: inscius, nescius, insciens).
I. Lit. (freq. and class.); constr. usu. with the gen.; less frequently with a rel.-clause, with acc. and inf., with inf. alone, or absol.
(a). With gen.: ait se peregrinum esse, hujus ignarum oppidi, Plaut. Poen. 3, 3, 43: imprudens harum rerum ignarusque omnium, Ter. Eun. 1, 2, 56: audi, ne te ignarum fuisse dicas meorum morum, id. Ad. 2, 1, 6; id. Hec. 4, 4, 53: ignara artis meretriciae, id. Heaut. 2, 1, 14: oratorem ne physicorum quidem esse ignarum volo, Cic. Or. 34, 119; cf.: physicae rationis ignari, id. N. D. 2, 21, 54: ignarus si sit facundiae ac poliendae orationis, id. de Or. 1, 14, 63: alicujus rei ignarus atque insolens, id. ib. 1, 48, 207: magna pars Pisonis ignari, i. e. not knowing him, Tac. H. 4, 50; cf.: alter alterius ignarus, Plin. 11, 30, 36, § 109: ignara puella mariti, Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 132: formica haud ignara ac non incauta futuri, id. S. 1, 1, 35.—Of inanim. and abstr. things: qui gurges aut quae flumina lugubris Ignara belli, Hor. C. 2, 1, 34; Stat. S. 2, 2, 149: non ignara philosophiae grammatice, Quint. 1, 4, 4: ignara hujusce doctrinae loquacitas, id. 12, 2, 20.—
(b). With rel. clause: ignari, quid gravitas, quid integritas ... quid denique virtus valeret, Cic. Sest. 28, 60; id. Top. 20, 75: cum quid ageretur in locis reliquis, essent ignari, Hirt. B. G. 8, 43, 2: haud ignari quanta invidiae immineret, tempestas, Liv. 3, 38, 6: quo essent in loco ignari, Quint. 8, 3, 4.—
(g). With acc. and inf.: quamquam non sumus ignari multos studiose contra esse dicturos, Cic. Tusc. 2, 1, 3: ignari venisse dictatorem, Liv. 8, 36, 2; 21, 22, 1: ignarus, non omnes esse rogandos, Ov. M. 6, 263: non quidem sibi ignarum, posse argui quod, etc., i. e. he well knew, Tac. A. 4, 8.—
(d). With inf. alone: placito ignara moveri Atropos, Stat. Th. 3, 67.—(ε) Absol.: tu me ignaro nec opinante, inscio notes et tuos et tuorum amicorum necessarios, etc., Cic. Planc. 16, 40: ubi imperium ad ignaros pervenit, etc., Sall. C. 51, 27; id. J. 91, 1; cf. id. Quint. 20, 64: obpressit igitur necopinantes ignarosque omnes Perseus. Liv. 40, 57, 1: si quis laudat Arelli Sollicitas ignarus opes, Hor. S. 2, 6, 79: quisnam ignarum nostris deus appulit oris? Verg. A. 3, 338.—Sup.: Ba. An nescis quae sit haec res? Si. Juxta cum ignarissimis, Plaut. Ps. 4, 7, 62.—
II. Transf. *
A. Unmindful, regardless of any thing: o socii (neque enim ignari sumus ante malorum), O passi graviora, etc., Verg. A. 1, 198.—
B. Pass. (like gnarus), not known, unknown, = ignotus (mostly poet.; not in Cic.): ignarus aeque (ac nescius) utroqueversum dicitur, non tantum qui ignorat, sed et qui ignoratur. Sallustius: more humanae cupidinis ignara visundi. Vergilius (A. 10, 706), Gell. 9, 12, 20 sq.; cf. Non. 129, 18 sq.: mare magnum et ignara lingua commercia prohibebant, Sall. J. 18, 6: quibus agrestis vita est, circumscriptio ignara est et fraus, Sen. de Ira, 3, 2: quem (amorem) non Fors ignara dedit, sed saeva Cupidinis ira, unknown, obscure, Ov. M. 1, 453. —
(b). With dat.: pauci interiere: plerosque velocitas et regio hostibus ignara tutata sunt, Sall. J. 52, 4; cf. Tac. A. 2, 13: jamque aderat Theseus, proles ignara parenti, Ov. M. 7, 404: non quidem sibi ignara, quae de Silano vulgabantur, Tac. A. 3, 69.—Sup.: quaedam (sidera) sunt aliis omnino ignarissima, Gell. 14, 1, 13.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Italic*n̥-
  4. Latinignārus

Latin gnārus Latin ignārus From in- (“un-”) + gnārus (“knowing”).

Descendants
  • Frenchignare
  • Italianignaro
  • Englishignarofrom Italian ignaro
  • Portugueseignaro
  • Spanishignaro
  • Galicianignaro

Quick answers

What does ignārus mean in Latin?
ignārus, a adjective, means “ignorant, unaware, not knowing; incapable, incompetent, unable”.
How do you pronounce ignārus?
In classical Latin, [ɪŋˈnaː.rʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [iɲˈɲaː.rus].
Where does ignārus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *né → Proto-Indo-European *n̥- → Proto-Italic *n̥- → Latin ignārus.