ign

Latin

a shared spelling, two unrelated Latin sources: 'not knowing' (ignorance) and 'born' inside malignus (malign-)

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About This Root

The spelling 'ign' here covers two unrelated Latin origins. In ignore/ignorance it is in- ('not') + gnōscere ('to know') → 'not knowing.' In malignant/malign it is mal- ('bad') + a form of gignere/gen- ('to be born, produced') → 'born bad.' The two have nothing to do with each other beyond the letters i-g-n.

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Associated Words · 4

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ignorance

Lack of knowledge or education

malignant

Harmful and dangerous; (of a tumour) life-threatening and uncontrolled

malignancy

A cancerous growth; the quality of being malignant

much-maligned

Widely and often unfairly criticized