Meanings
alternative agnatology
- uncountableThe study of culturally-induced ignorance or doubt, particularly the publication of inaccurate or misleading scientific data.
Our interest here, though, is less in remediation than in what Nancy Tuana has called the "liberatory moment"—which brings us to a more subtle form of agnatology
2005, Robert Proctor, Londa L. Schiebinger, Agnotology: the making and unmaking of ignorance, page 61 more example
Indeed, the think tanks and corporations that employ economists frequently explicitly seek to foster ignorance as part of their business plans: that is the postmodern phenomenon of agnotology.
2014, Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go To Waste, page 225
Origin
Coined by Irish linguist Iain Boal in 1992, deriving from the Neoclassical Greek word ἄγνωσις (ágnosis, “not knowing”), compare ἄγνωτος (ágnōtos), and -λογία (-logía).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Basque agnotologia
- agnotologiapromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Catalan agnotologia
- agnotologiapromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Chinese Mandarin 比較無知學 /比较无知学
- 比較無知學 /比较无知学 (bǐjiào wúzhī xué)promotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Czech agnotologie
- agnotologiepromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Dutch agnotologie
- agnotologiepromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Esperanto agnotologio
- agnotologiopromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Finnish agnotologia
- agnotologiapromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
French agnotologie
- agnotologiepromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
German Agnotologie
- Agnotologiepromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Indonesian agnatologi
- agnatologipromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Polish agnotologia
- agnotologiapromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Russian агнотология, агнатология
- агнотология (agnotologija)promotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
- агнатология (agnatologija)promotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Slovak agnotológia
- agnotológiapromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Spanish agnotología
- agnotologíapromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Turkish agnotoloji
- agnotolojipromotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Ukrainian агнотологія
- агнотологія (ahnotolohija)promotion of inaccurate or misleading scientific data
Cite this entry
agnotology. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agnotology
“agnotology.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agnotology. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “agnotology,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agnotology.
Source: agnotology on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.