1. Great personal dishonor or humiliation.
2. Shameful or disgraceful action, conduct, or character.

[French ignominie, from Old French, from Latin ignōminia : i-, in-, not; see in-¹ + nōmen, gnōmen, name (influenced by gnōscere, to know).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.