Uneducation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition characterized by a deficiency in formal learning or instruction
2. The lack of proper educational experience leading to ignorance or unawareness
3. The state of not having received formal schooling or systematic instruction

Etymology: "Uneducation" is a plain formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "not" or "the reverse of," attached to "education." The prefix is native English, descending from Old English "un-," and it has been productive for centuries, which is why English speakers can form new negative nouns like this one with little effort. "Education" itself came into English from Latin "educatio," a noun from "educare," meaning "to bring up" or "to rear," which in turn is linked to "educere," "to lead out." The result is a word that describes the absence of education rather than a specific act of schooling. Because "education" carries the sense of being drawn out or led forward, "uneducation" sounds like the opposite of that process, a state of having been left unformed. It is a rare term, used mostly in writing that wants to contrast ignorance with schooling, and it is not standard in dictionaries of everyday English.

Antonyms: education, learning