unacquaintednessn.
The state or fact of not being acquainted:
a. Const. with.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > unfamiliarity with, inexperience > [noun]
unwitc1175
uncunningnessa1325
uncunninghead1340
uncunningshipa1400
rawness1548
unskill1565
disacquaintance1589
inexperience1595
inacquaintance1597
unacquaintance1598
unaccustomedness1611
unacquaintednessa1617
illiteracy1660
greenness1740
griffinishness1850
unfamiliarity1880
a1617 S. Hieron Penance for Sinne in Wks. (1620) II. 380 Doe not cherish thy selfe in thy vnaccquaintednesse with this broken heart.
1682 J. Flavell Pract. Treat. Fear (new ed.) vii. 115 We may be excused for our fears, by reason of our own unacquaintedness with sufferings.
1764 T. Hutchinson Hist. Colony Massachusets-Bay, 1628–91 (1765) i. 5 From unacquaintedness with the geography of the country.
1825 M. M. Sherwood Lady of Manor (ed. 2) III. xiv. 88 I have no doubt that I uttered many shocking avowals of my entire unacquaintedness with these things.
1851 I. Taylor Wesley & Methodism 250 With our..unacquaintedness with the manners and habits of the lower classes.
b. With in, of, or without const.
ΚΠ
1667 Inconveniences of Toleration 6 It is nothing but unacquaintedness which makes them lyable to be so scared with all those terrible and groundless Stories.
1669 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa VI. iii. v. 44 By their unacquaintedness in using of an Oar [they were] unable to Row.
1729 ‘Philalethes’ Free Enq. Price Coals 35 What proceeded from an Unacquaintedness in some Part of this Affair.
1747 S. Richardson Clarissa II. xxxv. 240 What might not my youth, my sex, an unacquaintedness with the ways of that great, wicked town, expose me to?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.a1617