ignotum per ignotius
Detailed reference entry for the English word "ignotum-per-ignotius", 20-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "ignotum-per-ignotius" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "ignotum-per-ignotius" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
The verdict
“ignotum per ignotius” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a phrase - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 20
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An attempt to explain something obscure in terms of something else which is even more obscure.
Compare similar words
See how ignotum per ignotius compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ignotum per ignotius |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Phrase |
| Letters | 20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ignotum per ignotius” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ignotum per ignotius is 20 letters long, classified as a phrase. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for ignotum per ignotius in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin ignōtum per ignōtius, “[to explain] the unknown by the more unknown”. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is ignotum per ignotius, spelled I-G-N-O-T-U-M- -P-E-R- -I-G-N-O-T-I-U-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1An attempt to explain something obscure in terms of something else which is even more obscure.
- 2A type of fallacious argument in which one attempts to prove something unknown by relying upon an assumption that is also unknown.
Etymology
From Latin ignōtum per ignōtius, “[to explain] the unknown by the more unknown”.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “ignotum per ignotius, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/ignotum-per-ignotius
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Using “ignotum per ignotius”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-G-N-O-T-U-M- -P-E-R- -I-G-N-O-T-I-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter I in our English index: