unˈwittingness
[f. unwitting ppl. a.]
† 1. Lack of knowledge; ignorance. Obs. rare.
| a 1300 E.E. Psalter xxiv. 7 Giltes of mine youthe in thoghte And mine un-witandnesses [L. ignorantiæ] min noght. 1611 Florio, Inscibilita, ignorance, vnwittingnesse. 1668 J. Wilson tr. Erasmus' Praise of Folly (1913) 176 Nor does he cover their crime with any other excuse than that of unwittingnesse—because, saith he, ‘they know not what they do’. |
2. Absence of realization; unconsciousness.
| 1873 Mrs. Whitney Other Girls xviii, ‘Why don't we preach it ourselves,’ said Desire, with inimitable unwittingness. 1876 Meredith Beauch. Career II. iii. 44 A lovely melting image of her stole over him; all the warmer for her unwittingness in producing it. |