nescience

American  

[nesh-uhns, nesh-ee-uhns, nes-ee-] / ˈnɛʃ əns, ˈnɛʃ i əns, ˈnɛs i- /

noun

1. lack of knowledge; ignorance.

2. agnosticism.

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nescience British  

/ ˈnɛsɪəns /

noun

1. a formal or literary word for ignorance

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Other Word Forms

• nonnescience
  noun
• nescient
  adjective
• nonnescient
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of nescience

First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin nescientia “ignorance,” from nescient-, the stem of nesciēns, present participle of nescīre “to be ignorant, not to know,” equivalent to ne- “not” + scientia “knowledge”; see science

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nescience

The Americansʼ good and honest intentions were only equalled by their nescience of the Malay character.

From The Philippine Islands by John Foreman

This science, alone of sciences, must, by all available means, promulgate and prolong its opposite nescience; otherwise the science itself is impossible.

From Unto This Last and Other Essays on Political Economy by John Ruskin

The so-called science that assumes or undertakes to do that, is materialism and nescience.

From The New Avatar and The Destiny of the Soul The Findings of Natural Science Reduced to Practical Studies in Psychology by J. D. (Jirah Dewey) Buck

Mr. Herbert Spencer, in his book called “First Principles,” lays down the doctrine of theological nescience, as the final result of religious inquiry.

From Orthodoxy: Its Truths And Errors by James Freeman Clarke

If modern science, discovering the moon's inferiority to the sun, call the former feminine, ancient nescience, supposing the sun to be inferior to the moon, called the latter masculine.

From Moon Lore by Timothy Harley

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