He probably knew a thing or two about the history of the word nescience, which evolved from a combination of the Latin prefix ne-, meaning "not," and scire, a verb meaning "to know." And he may also have known that scire is an ancestor of science, a word whose original meaning in English was "knowledge."

Is Nescience a word?

lack of knowledge; ignorance.

What is the opposite of Nescience?

Opposite of ignorance, especially of orthodox beliefs. acquaintance. awareness. cognizance. familiarity.