LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

nescius

nescius (feminine nescia, neuter nescium)
Classical[ˈnɛs.ki.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈnɛʃ.ʃi.us]

Meaning

  1. adjectivenot knowing, unknowing, in ignorance, ignorant, unaware, untaught
    [...] pāstor agēns tēlīs, līquitque volātile ferrum / nescius; [...].… and the shepherd, driving in [such] darts, has departed from his flying weapon, unaware; …. (In the simile comparing Dido falling in love to a deer struck by an arrow, at first Aeneas — i.e., the archer — does not know what has happened.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.71-72
  2. adjectiveunknown

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
nominativenesciusnescianescium
genitivenesciīnesciaenesciī
dativenesciōnesciaenesciō
accusativenesciumnesciamnescium
ablativenesciōnesciānesciō
vocativenescienescianescium
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativenesciīnesciaenescia
genitivenesciōrumnesciārumnesciōrum
dativenesciīsnesciīsnesciīs
accusativenesciōsnesciāsnescia
ablativenesciīsnesciīsnesciīs
vocativenesciīnesciaenescia

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

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

nescĭus, a, um, adj. ne-scio,
I. unknowing, ignorant, unaware (syn.: inscius, ignarus).—With gen.: nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futurae, Verg. A. 10, 501: impendentis mali nescius, Plin. Ep. 8, 23, 8.— With de, Ov. H. 16, 140.—With a rel.-clause: nescia, quae faceret subitos mihi causa dolores, Ov. H. 11, 47: arvaque Cyclopum, quid rastra, quid usus aratri, Nescia, id. M. 14, 2. —With a preced. neg.: neque tamen, cum haec scribebam, eram nescius, quantis oneribus premerere susceptarum rerum, Cic. Fam. 5, 12, 2.—With inf.: non sum nescius, Scaevola, ista inter Graecos dici, Cic. de Or. 1, 11, 45: non eram nescius, fore, etc., id. Fin. 1, 1, 1; id. Att. 15, 11, 4.—
B. Not knowing how, not understanding, unable; with inf. (poet.): nescii fari pueri, Hor. C. 4, 6, 18: cedere nescius, id. ib. 1, 6, 6: nescia fallere vita, Verg. G. 2, 467: corda, id. ib. 4, 470: Graias mirari artes, Juv. 11, 100: vinci nescius, Ov. P. 2, 9, 45: natura mutari nescia, Juv. 13, 240.—
II. Pass., not known, unknown (rare; not in Cic.): in locis nesciis nesciā spe sumus, Plaut. Rud. 1, 5, 17; id. Capt. 2, 2, 15: tributa, Tac. A. 1, 59.—As subst.: nescĭum, ĭi, n., an unknown thing, a piece of ignorance: siquid nescibo, id nescium tradam tibi, Plaut. Capt. 2, 2, 15; cf.: neque nescium habebat, Anteium invisum Neroni, nor was he ignorant, Tac. A. 16, 14.

Origins

From nesciō (“not to know”) + -us, equivalent to ne- + scius, the latter more likely a backformation itself. Compare inscius.

Southern Gallo-Romance
  • Catalanneci
  • Catalannici
  • Occitannèci
Northern Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchnicefrom Old French nice
  • Englishnicefrom Old French nice
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesenésciofrom Old Galician-Portuguese necio
  • Spanishneciofrom Old Spanish nesçio
  • Asturianneciu
  • Asturianñeciu
  • Galicianneciofrom Old Galician-Portuguese necio
Italo-Romance
  • Italiannescio
Gallo-Italic
  • Liguriannéscio

Quick answers

What does nescius mean in Latin?
nescius, a adjective, means “not knowing, unknowing, in ignorance, ignorant, unaware, untaught; unknown”.
How do you pronounce nescius?
In classical Latin, [ˈnɛs.ki.ʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈnɛʃ.ʃi.us].