# Help! I'm looking for a specific word... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 24, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877 "2004-09-24T14:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/1 "2004-09-24T14:52:24Z")
This question may sound odd, but I am looking for a word that describes (or associated with) knowledge. It is often used to define the realm of what is known, or can be known, typically by an individual. In some ways, it is kinda the complement to pre-cognitive knowledge. You might even argue it is the opposite to pre-cognitive knowledge. The word I am thinking of may be esoteric, but with the help of SDope, I’m sure it is bound to surface. Meanwhile, I will keep searching on my end. I had it written down once, and I am bound to find it again! I’ll let you know. And, I’m sure I’ll know it when I see it… Any help, including wild guesses, is appreciated because it might jog my memory! Thanks to all who participate, - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![W.Fikere\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f9ae1b/32.png) [@W.Fikere\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/W.Fikere_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/2 "2004-09-24T15:45:13Z")
All I can think of is _epistemology._ ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/3 "2004-09-24T16:17:25Z")
> [@W. Fikere Tomba](#): > > All I can think of is _epistemology._ Thanks for trying, but that wasn’t the word I once came across. Ug! This will bug me! Still searching on my end. Still, it’s a good try, though! It certainly fits my desciption! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/4 "2004-09-24T16:20:09Z")
What’s “pre-cognitive” knowledge? Is that a fancy way of saying instinct? The opposite of instinctive knowledge is learned knowledge, but I doubt that “learned” is the word you are struggling with… ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/5 "2004-09-24T18:20:13Z")
How about Nescient? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/6 "2004-09-24T18:34:32Z")
Curriculum? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/7 "2004-09-24T19:13:09Z")
Dang! I could shoot myself for misplacing wherever I had it written down! I know it is not lost, only misplaced. And, I am sure it will show up. Meanwhile, I am sorry this question must be bugging the SDopers as much as it is bugging me! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/8 "2004-09-24T19:25:59Z")
The word I was thinking of is “apperceive” or “apperception”. I know my OP may have not have been quite hitting the nail on the head, but I was trying to recall the definition as best as possible. Merriam Webster defines as: 1 : introspective self-consciousness 2 : mental perception; especially : the process of understanding something perceived in terms of previous experience Thanks to all for your assistance! I appreceived the SDopers could do it!?! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/9 "2004-09-24T22:12:57Z")
Not magisterium? ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2004, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/10 "2004-09-24T23:20:24Z")
Do you mean sort of like ‘vocabulary’ is to ‘words’ as X is to ‘area of knowledge x’? And ‘understanding’ doesn’t cut it? ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/11 "2004-09-25T00:19:20Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Do you mean sort of like ‘vocabulary’ is to ‘words’ as X is to ‘area of knowledge x’? > > And ‘understanding’ doesn’t cut it? It’s more like: apperception knowledge + pre-cognitive knowledge = total knowledge. This little equation works even if your pre-cognitive = 0. Also, understanding does not necessarily = knowledge. Because, I can have knowledge of something existing, like quantum physics, but that does not mean I understand it! - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/12 "2004-09-25T00:20:39Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Not magisterium? …Wouldn’t that be “omniscient”? 😉 - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![stockton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@stockton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stockton)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-im-looking-for-a-specific-word/265877/13 "2004-09-25T04:22:57Z")
gnosis The root of ‘agnostic’