English
neglect
Neglect comes from Latin neglegō ‘to make light of, disregard, not to pick up’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneglegō1‘to make light of, disregard, not to pick up’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneglēctus1perfect passive participle of neglegō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neglect1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1593neglect1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English neglect
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “I hope My absence doth neglect no great designs.”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneglegōWiktionary, English neglect‘to make light of, disregard, not to pick up’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEneglēctusWiktionary, English neglectperfect passive participle of neglegō
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500neglectWiktionary, English neglect
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1593neglectWiktionary, English neglect. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]: “I hope My absence doth neglect no great designs.”
A compound of nec ‘not’ + legō ‘to pick up, select’
Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather’
Proto-Indo-European *léǵeti
Proto-Italic *legō
Latin legō ‘to pick up, select’
first attested First attested in 1460 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)
The story
The verb is inherited from Middle English neglect, neclect, derived from Latin neglēctus, perfect passive participle of neglegō (‘to make light of, disregard, not to pick up’), itself from nec (‘not’) + legō (‘to pick up, select’).
Linked words
through Latin neglegō ‘to make light of, disregard, not to pick up’
Today it means
verb To fail to care for or attend to something.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “neglect”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin neglegō / neglect