nescio

See also: néscio

Esperanto

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nesˈt͡sio/
• Rhymes: -io
• Syllabification: nes‧ci‧o
• Hyphenation: ne‧scio

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 Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

Anagrams

• cenosi, coseni, cosine, inceso, osceni

Latin

FWOTD – 12 May 2016

Alternative forms

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

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin ne-

Proto-Indo-European *sek-?

Proto-Indo-European *-éyti

Proto-Indo-European *skey-der.

Latin sciō

Latin nesciō

From ne- (“not”) + sciō (“to know”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛs.ki.oː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈnɛʃ.ʃi.o]

Verb

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

1. to not know, to be ignorant, to not understand

   Synonym: ignōrō

   Antonyms: sciō, sentiō, cōnsciō, nōscō, inveniō

   nesciō quis ― someone; a certain

   nesciō quot ― a certain amount of

   nesciō quōmodō̆ ― somehow

   nesciō quandō̆ ― at some time

   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 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, Ovidius, 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.)

   • 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.

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		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		nescīre			nescīrī			nesciēns			—
future		nescītūrum esse			nescītum īrī			nescītūrus			nesciendus, nesciundus
perfect		nescīvisse, nesciisse			nescītum esse			—			nescītus
future perfect		—			nescītum fore			—			—
perfect potential		nescītūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		nesciendī		nesciendō		nesciendum		nesciendō		nescītum		nescītū

Derived terms

• nesciō quis
• nescius
• nōmen nesciō

Descendants

• → English: nescient (from nesciēns)
• Italian: nescire
• Romanian: nești, niscai

• see also nesciō quis

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 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025