Neglego

Neglego is a Latin verb meaning to neglect, disregard, or ignore; to fail to give proper attention to someone or something. It belongs to the third conjugation and has the principal parts neglego, neglegere, neglexi, neglectum. In the present active indicative it appears as neglego, neglegis, neglegit, neglegimus, neglegitis, neglegunt.

Etymology and usage: The verb is formed with the prefix ne- (not) and legere (to gather, choose, read), yielding the sense “not to select” or “not to pay due attention.” In classical Latin, neglego is used to describe neglecting duties, laws, or persons, often with direct objects such as litterae (letters) or officia (duties). For example, Neglego litteras means “I neglect the letters” or “I ignore the letters.” The word also appears in compounds and in the participle neglegens, meaning “careless,” which gives rise to English derivatives.

English derivatives and related forms: The Latin verb is the ancestor of English neglect and negligence, as well as negligent, negligence, and negligently. The participle neglegens has given English negligent, while the noun negligencia evolved from a related French form borrowed into English.

See also: Latin verbs of neglect and correspondence with English derivatives; the broader family of legere-derived verbs and their semantic extensions in Romance languages.