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Webster 1913 Edition

Neglect

Neg-lect′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Neglected
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Neglecting
.]
[L.
neglectus
, p. p. of
neglegere
(
negligere
) to disregard, neglect, the literal sense prob. being, not to pick up;
nec
not, nor (fr.
ne
not +
-que
, a particle akin to Goth.
-h
,
-uh
, and prob. to E.
who
; cf. Goth.
nih
nor) + L.
legere
to pick up, gather. See
No
,
adv.
,
Legend
,
Who
.]
1.
Not to attend to with due care or attention; to forbear one’s duty in regard to; to allow to pass unimproved, unheeded, undone, etc.; to omit; to disregard; to slight;
as, to
neglect
duty or business; to
neglect
to pay debts.
I hope
My absence doth
neglect
no great designs.
Shakespeare
This, my long suffering and my day of grace,
Those who
neglect
and scorn shall never taste.
Milton.
2.
To omit to notice; to forbear to treat with attention or respect; to slight;
as, to
neglect
strangers
.
Syn. – To slight; overlook; disregard; disesteem; contemn. See
Slight
.

Neg-lect′

,
Noun.
[L.
neglectus
. See
Neglect
,
Verb.
]
1.
Omission of proper attention; avoidance or disregard of duty, from heedlessness, indifference, or willfulness; failure to do, use, or heed anything; culpable disregard;
as,
neglect
of business, of health, of economy
.
To tell thee sadly, shepherd, without blame,
Or our
neglect
, we lost her as we came.
Milton.
2.
Omission of attention or civilities; slight;
as,
neglect
of strangers
.
3.
Habitual carelessness; negligence.
Age breeds
neglect
in all.
Denham.
4.
The state of being disregarded, slighted, or neglected.
Rescue my poor remains from vile
neglect
.
Prior.
Syn. – Negligence; inattention; disregard; disesteem; remissness; indifference. See
Negligence
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Neglect

NEGLECT

,
Verb.
T.
[G. To let, to leave, to suffer to pass. The sense of the latter words then is to leave behind, or permit to remain; I suspect the L. To be composed of the same prefix, as n is not radical in the latter. But of this I am not confident.]
1.
To omit by carelessness or design; to forbear to do, use, employ, promote or attend to; as, to neglect duty or business; to neglect to pay honest debts; to neglect our interest or policy; to neglect the means in our power.
2.
To omit to receive or embrace; to slight.
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? Hebrews 2.
3.
To slight; not to notice; to forbear to treat with attention or respect. Among people of good breeding, strangers seldom complain of being neglected.
4.
To postpone. [Not in use.]

NEGLECT

,
Noun.
1.
Omission; forbearance to do any thing that can be done or that requires to be done. Neglect may be from carelessness or intention. The neglect of business is the cause of many failures, but neglect of economy is more frequent and more injurious.
2.
Slight; omission of attention or civilities. Neglect of due notice and attention to strangers is characteristic of ill breeding.
3.
Negligence; habitual want of regard.
Age breeds neglect in all.
4.
State of being disregarded.
Rescue my poor remains from vile neglect.

Definition 2024

neglect

neglect

English

Verb

neglect ‎(third-person singular simple present neglects, present participle neglecting, simple past and past participle neglected)

  1. (transitive) To fail to care for or attend to something.
    to neglect duty or business;  to neglect to pay debts‎
    • William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
      I hope / My absence doth neglect no great designs.
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      This, my long suffering and my day of grace, / Those who neglect and scorn shall never taste.
    • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
      One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. […] But out of sight is out of mind. And that, together with the inherent yuckiness of the subject, means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair.
  2. (transitive) To omit to notice; to forbear to treat with attention or respect; to slight.
    to neglect strangers‎
  3. (transitive) To fail to do or carry out something due to oversight or carelessness.
    • 1972 December 29, Richard Schickel, “Masterpieces underrated and overlooked”, in Life, volume 73, number 25, page 22:
      A friend of mine who runs an intellectual magazine was grousing about his movie critic, complaining that though the fellow had liked The Godfather (page 58), he had neglected to label it clearly as a masterpiece.


Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

neglect ‎(countable and uncountable, plural neglects)

  1. The act of neglecting.
  2. The state of being neglected.
  3. Habitual lack of care.

Synonyms

Translations

Etymology

From Latin neglēctus, perfect passive participle of neglegō ‎(“make light of, disregard, not to pick up”), a variant of neclegō, itself from nec ‎(“not”) + legō ‎(“pick up, select”). Recorded since 1529, as noun since 1588.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɛkt

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