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Friday 5 July 2013

Word To Use Today: nescience.

Nescience is such a nice, nestling sort of a word - one in which to hide comfortably away from all danger and challenges.

This is just what you'd expect, because nescience means ignorance.

Oh, but if only we looked outwards what great wide spaces of the unknown.

I, for instance, know almost nothing of card games, current chart music, elastance, the intrafascicular cambium, Serbo-Croat, Viking underwear (if any) and zugzwang.

(I'd like to know more about Viking underwear and Serbo-Croat, but the rest I'm afraid for now I'm content to do without.)

Plainly I can't ever know a billionth part of everything, so I'm going to have to embrace my nescience.

At least that means I shan't make the great mistake of forgetting the tiny island in the midst of the great ocean of the unknown on which I'm marooned.

File:DSC00031 French Polynésia Mooréa Island (8044046451).jpg
Photo Daniel Julie.

Word To Use Today: nescience. This word comes from the Latin nescentia, from ne, which means not, plus scīre, to know.
 






5 comments:

  1. Is there any difference between nescience and ignorance?

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    Replies
    1. No idea, Ed. I'm in a state of total nescience, here.

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    2. Hmm. I see a bit of research coming. I shall report back in due course : o )

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  2. As I remember, years ago it was explained to me that ignorance is the lack of Education or learning, nescience is the lack of knowledge..... An person can be well educated, say an electrical engineer. But lack the knowledge (be nescient) of how to do open heart surgery.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Mr Hiram. That explains it very clearly indeed.

      I MUST look up those Viking underpants.

      Um. Not literally...

      Delete

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