nesciō, nescīre, nescīvī, nescītum

Definitions for nescīre

Wheelock's Latin

Verb

1
not to know, be ignorant
English derivatives:
nice

Oxford Latin Dictionary

Verb

1
Not to know (a fact): (a) (w. indir. question). (b) (w. acc. and inf.); (poet., also w. nom, and inf., unless to be taken as sense 3). (c) (w. acc. of thing, esp. a neut. pron.); also, not to know the identity of (a person). (d) (ellipt. or absol.); (si ~is, a formula used in imparting information).
2
(w. acc.) To be unfamiliar with, not to know about (a person or thing); (poet.) to have no experience of, eschew, or sim. (b) to be unaware of. (c) to be unacquainted with (a subject).
3
(w. inf.) Not to know how (to); (often = to be unable, unwilling, etc., to). (b) (ellipt.) Latine, Graece, etc., ~ire, not to know Latin, Greek, etc.
4
~io an: (a) (affirmatively) I am inclined to think that, perhaps, probably; (often w. ellipsis of vb.). (b) (negatively) I am not sure that, possibly not.
5
Combinations involving ~io foll. by a juxtaposed interr. pron., adv., or sim., the two often written as one wd. (w. prons.): (a) ~io quis (quae), Someone or other. (b) ~io quid something or other; (w. part. gen.) some slight amount or degree (of).

See more definitions

Sentences with nescīre

Latin to English

Bene sciō mē multa nescīre; nēmō enim potest omnia scīre.Compare I well know that I do not know many things, for no one can know all things.

Nesciō ubi pecūnia posita sit.Compare I do not know where the money was put.

Cum de supplicio cuiusdam capite damnati ut ex more subsriberet admoneretur: "Quam vellem," inquit, "nescire litteras." (Nero,X, 2)Compare When he [Nero] was asked to sign the usual warrant for a man's execution, he said, "How I wish I had never learned to write!"

Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris. Nescio, sed fieri sentior et exrucior.Compare I hate and love. Why I do so, perhaps you ask. I know not, but I feel it, and I am in torment.

Quid est ergo tempus? si nemo ex me quaerat, scio; si quaerenti explicare velim nescio.Compare What, then, is time? If no one asks me, I know; if I want to explain it to someone who does ask me, I do not know.

Hic, nescio quomodo, accido, non meus quidem meritum: sed quantus is refert, si tamen accido?Compare This happens I know not how, not by my fault indeed: but what does it matter, if nevertheless it happens?

Conjugation table for nescīre

Cactus2000

ACTIVE
Indicative present	Indicative imperfect
nesciō nescīs nescit nescīmus nescītis nesciunt	nesciēbam nesciēbās nesciēbat nesciēbāmus nesciēbātis nesciēbant
Indicative perfect	Indicative pluperfect
nescīvī nescīvistī nescīvit nescīvimus nescīvistis nescīvērunt / nescīvēre	nescīveram nescīverās nescīverat nescīverāmus nescīverātis nescīverant
Indicative future	Indicative future perfect
nesciam nesciēs nesciet nesciēmus nesciētis nescient	nescīverō nescīveris nescīverit nescīverimus nescīveritis nescīverint
Subjunctive present	Subjunctive imperfect
nesciam nesciās nesciat nesciāmus nesciātis nesciant	nescīrem nescīrēs nescīret nescīrēmus nescīrētis nescīrent
Subjunctive perfect	Subjunctive pluperfect
nescīverim nescīveris nescīverit nescīverimus nescīveritis nescīverint	nescīvissem nescīvissēs nescīvisset nescīvissēmus nescīvissētis nescīvissent
Infinitive present nescīre Infinitive perfect nescīvisse Infinitive future nescītūrum esse	Imperative present nescī nescīte Imperative future nescītō nescītō nescītōte nesciuntō

PASSIVE
Indicative present	Indicative imperfect
nescior nescīris nescītur nescīmur nescīminī nesciuntur	nesciēbar nesciēbāris / nesciēbāre nesciēbātur nesciēbāmur nesciēbāminī nesciēbantur
Indicative perfect	Indicative pluperfect
nescītus sum nescītus es nescītus est nescītī sumus nescītī estis nescītī sunt	nescītus eram nescītus erās nescītus erat nescītī erāmus nescītī erātis nescītī erant
Indicative future	Indicative future perfect
nesciar nesciēris / nesciēre nesciētur nesciēmur nesciēminī nescientur	nescītus erō nescītus eris nescītus erit nescītī erimus nescītī eritis nescītī erunt
Subjunctive present	Subjunctive imperfect
nesciar nesciāris / nesciāre nesciātur nesciāmur nesciāminī nesciantur	nescīrer nescīrēris / nescīrēre nescīrētur nescīrēmur nescīrēminī nescīrentur
Subjunctive perfect	Subjunctive pluperfect
nescītus sim nescītus sīs nescītus sit nescītī sīmus nescītī sītis nescītī sint	nescītus essem nescītus essēs nescītus esset nescītī essēmus nescītī essētis nescītī essent
Infinitive present nescīrī Infinitive perfect nescītum esse Infinitive future nescītum īrī	Imperative present nescīre nescīminī Imperative future nescītor nescītor - nescīuntor

	PARTICIPLE
	Participle present active
Nom.	nesciēns	nescientēs
Gen.	nescientis	nescientium
Dat.	nescientī	nescientibus
Acc.	nescientem	nescientēs
Abl.	nesciente	nescientibus
	Participle future active
Nom.	nescītūrus	nescītūrī
Gen.	nescītūrī	nescītūrōrum
Dat.	nescītūrō	nescītūrīs
Acc.	nescītūrum	nescītūrōs
Abl.	nescītūrō	nescītūrīs
	Participle perfect passive
Nom.	nescītus	nescītī
Gen.	nescītī	nescītōrum
Dat.	nescītō	nescītīs
Acc.	nescītum	nescītōs
Abl.	nescītō	nescītīs
	Gerundive
Nom.	nesciendus	nesciendī
Gen.	nesciendī	nesciendōrum
Dat.	nesciendō	nesciendīs
Acc.	nesciendum	nesciendōs
Abl.	nesciendō	nesciendīs
	Gerund	Supine
Nom.	nescīre	nescītum
Gen.	nesciendī	nescītū
Dat.	nesciendō
Acc.	nesciendum
Abl.	nesciendō

Data sources

Notes

Definitions
Frederick M. Wheelock, Wheelock's Latin, 6th ed., rev. Richard A. LaFleur (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005): 166.
P. G. W. Glare, Oxford Latin Dictionary, Vols. 1-8 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982): 1173.
Word frequencies
Christopher Francese, "Latin Core Vocabulary," Dickinson College Commentaries, last modified 2014, http://dcc.dickinson.edu.
Paul B. Diederich, The Frequency of Latin Words and Their Endings, PhD diss., (Columbia University, 1939).
Louis Delatte, Suzanne Govaerts, Joseph Denooz, and Etienne Evrard, Dictionnaire fréquentiel et index inverse de la langue latine [Frequency Dictionary and Inverse Index of the Latin Language] (Liège, Belgium: Laboratoire d'analyse statistique des langues anciennes de l'Université de Liège [L.A.S.L.A.], 1981): 123.

Bibliography

Allen, Joseph H. Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar for Schools and Colleges: Founded on Comparative Grammar. Edited by James B. Greenough, George L. Kittredge, Albert A. Howard, and Benjamin L. D'Ooge. Boston, MA: Ginn & Company, 1903.

Crystal, David. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics. 6th ed. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing, 2008.

Delatte, Louis, Suzanne Govaerts, Joseph Denooz, and Etienne Evrard. Dictionnaire fréquentiel et index inverse de la langue latine [Frequency Dictionary and Inverse Index of the Latin Language]. Liège, Belgium: Laboratoire d'analyse statistique des langues anciennes de l'Université de Liège (L.A.S.L.A.), 1981.

Diederich, Paul B. The Frequency of Latin Words and Their Endings. PhD diss., Columbia University, 1939.

Francese, Christopher. "Latin Core Vocabulary." Dickinson College Commentaries. Last modified 2014. http://dcc.dickinson.edu/latin-vocabulary-list.

Gildersleeve, Basil L., and Gonzales Lodge. Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar: Third Edition, Revised, and Enlarged. 3rd ed. London, England: Macmillan and Co., 1903.

Glare, Peter G.W. Oxford Latin Dictionary. Vols. 1-8. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1982.

Krüger, Bernd. "Latin Conjugation Tables." Cactus2000. Accessed May 5, 2023. https://latin.cactus2000.de/index.en.php.

Pierson, Nick. "Sound of Text." Accessed October 26, 2019. https://soundoftext.com.

Wheelock, Frederick M. Wheelock's Latin. 6th ed. Revised by Richard A. LaFleur. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 2005.

Wiktionary Contributors. "Victionarium." Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Updated March 18, 2019. https://la.wiktionary.org/wiki/Victionarium:Pagina_prima.

Citation

Chicago (17th ed.)

Allo Contributors. "nesciō, nescīre, nescīvī, nescītum (v.) - Latin Word Definition." Allo Latin Dictionary. Last modified September 10, 2023. Accessed December 27, 2024. http://ancientlanguages.org/latin/dictionary/nescio-nescire-nescivi-nescitum.