[ne.glect] vt [L neglectus, pp. of neglegere, neclegere, fr. nec- not (akin to ne- not) + legere to gather--more at no, legend] (1529) 1: to give little attention or respect to: disregard
2: to leave undone or unattended to esp. through carelessness -- ne.glect.er n syn neglect, disregard, ignore, overlook, slight, forget mean to pass over without giving due attention. neglect implies giving insufficient attention to something that has a claim to one's attention "habitually neglected his studies". disregard suggests voluntary inattention "disregarded the wishes of other members". ignore implies a failure to regard something obvious "ignored the snide remark". overlook suggests disregarding or ignoring through haste or lack of care "in my rush I overlooked a key example". slight implies contemptuous or disdainful disregarding or omitting "slighted several major authors in her survey". forget may suggest either a willful ignoring or a failure to impress something on one's mind "forget what others say and listen to me".
[2]neglect n (1588) 1: an act or instance of neglecting something
2: the condition of being neglected