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ig·no·min·y

(ĭgnə-mĭn′ē, -mə-nē)

n. pl. ig·no·min·ies

1. Great personal dishonor or humiliation: a military adventure that ended in ignominy.

2. An instance or source of this: had suffered many ignominies because of his insensitivity.

[French ignominie, from Old French, from Latin ignōminia : in-, i-, not; see IN-¹ + nōmen, name (influenced by gnōscere, to know); see n-men- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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