nescience

9.9

Lack of knowledge or awareness

noun
/ˈnɛʃəns/

Archaic

: ignorancia

His nescience about the rules of the game was evident when he made a foolish mistake.

Examples

The nescience of the community regarding climate change is alarming.
His nescience about the subject was evident during the discussion.
Admitting one's nescience is sometimes the first step towards gaining real knowledge.
His nescience of quantum mechanics made the lecture difficult to follow.
Religious authorities often criticized those who lived in nescience regarding sacred texts.
The community's nescience regarding climate change has hindered effective action.
Many people remain in a state of nescience, unaware of the significant issues affecting their lives.

Synonyms

ignorance

vsnescience

316 3.9

Not knowing about something or how it works

focuses on lacking knowledge especially of orthodox or established beliefs

unenlightenment

vsnescience

9.7

A state of not knowing or understanding things

focuses on lacking knowledge especially of orthodox or established beliefs

unknowingness

vsnescience

8.6

Being unaware of something

focuses on lacking knowledge especially of orthodox or established beliefs

Antonyms

knowledge

∞ 1.0

Information and skills gained from study or experience

understanding

871 1.1

The ability to know what something means

awareness

336 3.2

Knowing about something or noticing it

How Ignorant

benightedness

Formal

9.9

nescience

Archaic

9.9

ignorance

316 3.9

unawareness

2 5.4

unfamiliarity

2 6.1

Surface Forms

nescience singular

nesciences plural

Morphology

nescience = science (opaque) = ne + science

The negative element 'ne-' is an archaic/learned prefix and learners will likely misinterpret 'science' as the modern field rather than 'knowledge', so the word's meaning ('ignorance') is not derivable by a typical B1 learner.

Etymology

Nescience comes from Latin parts ne- meaning 'not' and scire meaning 'to know', and it shares the same root as science, which is about knowledge. So nescience literally means 'not knowing', which is why it now means a 'lack of knowledge' or not being aware.