α. Old English ungecnawe.
β. see un- prefix1 and known adj. and n.; also 1700s vnknow (archaic).
unknownadj.n.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈnəʊn/, U.S. /ˌənˈnoʊn/ A. adj.† 3. Not knowing; not possessing knowledge or understanding. Cf. unknowing adj. 1. Obsolete.† 4. That does not recognize or acknowledge something as a duty; (also of a sin) that has not been acknowledged or confessed. Cf. know v. 4, unknow v.1 1b. Obsolete.
1. Of a fact, piece of information, etc.: not known; that has not been learnt, ascertained, or comprehended; not identified or established as fact or truth. Cf. know v. III.
a. attributive and in predicative use. Also with by, to, etc., specifying the person or group to whom the fact or information is not known.In quot. OE at α. with dative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [adjective]
uncouthc897
neweOE
fremdc950
unknownOE
unseena1200
unketha1275
unkedc1275
strange13..
disguisyc1330
unknowedc1380
aliena1382
unhearda1382
unkenneda1400
ranishc1400
ignorant?a1475
unwittenc1485
unbekend1513
unacquainted1551
unkent1579
unwitted1582
unfamiliar1593
unsounded1594
incognite1609
ignote1623
in the urn1658
unfathomed1659
unexperienced1698
unknown-of1700
undiscovered1707
inaudite1708
darka1727
unascertained1751
unwist1757
unknownst1805
unbeknown1824
unbeknownst1848
unsampled1890
α.
β. a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Deut. xxi. 1 Whenne þer were founde in þe lond..a careyne of a slawyn man & shal been vnknowe [L. ignoratur] þe gulty of þe deeþ..þe alder men..sholyn take a she calf [etc.].a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 217 (MED) Meny þinges be unknowne and i-hud from manis knowleche.a1425 (a1400) Prick of Conscience (Galba & Harl.) (1863) l. 7694 Na thyng..tylle him unknawen es.1449 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VI (Electronic ed.) Parl. Feb. 1449 §17. m. 5 Hit is not unknowen to youre grete discrecions, howe hit liked oure sovereign lord..to committe the governaunce of the contrees..to..my lord of Somerset.1509 J. Fisher Mornynge Remembraunce Countesse of Rychemonde (de Worde) sig. A.vv It is not vnknowen how studyously she procured Iustyce to be admynystred.1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 180 A man of vnknowen or low birth.1622 S. Ward Life of Faith in Death 51 Death is the knownest and vnknownest thing in the world.1725 I. Watts Logick iv. i In logic..Method is the disposition of a variety of thoughts on any subject, in such order as may best serve to find out unknown truths.a1768 T. Secker Serm. Several Subj. (1770) IV. xviii. 387 Their having a real, though unknown, Subserviency to valuable Ends.1803 C. Taylor Script. Illustr. To Rdr. p. i This department of liberal Biblical science..has been neglected, or unknown, by most of those who..should have been proficients..in this branch of knowledge.1865 Proc. Geologists' Assoc. 1861–5 1 236 I have an anthozoan from the carstone of Hunstanton; its species unknown to me.1915 Atlantic Monthly July 51/2 I exchanged the knife for a boat-axe that for some unknown reason lay handy on the booby hatch.2007 Stroke 38 1442 The cause of brain infarction is unknown in up to 39% of patients.OE tr. Apollonius of Tyre (1958) xvi. 26 Apollonius..fela fægera þinga þar forð teah, þe þam folce ungecnawe [probably read ungecnawen] wæs and ungewunelic.
b. In parenthetic adverbial phrases or with adverbial force (chiefly with to, †of, specifying the person or group to whom the fact or information is not known): without the knowledge of.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [adjective] > outside one's knowledge
unweeting1303
unwittingc1380
unwistc1385
unware1390
unknowna1393
unknowing1423
unawares1548
unacquainta1699
out of one's beat1839
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 1251 Diane his dowhter he begat Unknowen of his wif Juno.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lxxxxvii. 130 These two prestes vnknowen of her cam where as she was alone.
1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 74 The kyng..was ther unknowen of his ennemyes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iv. ii. 48 Thus he vnknowne to me should be in debt.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. vii. 77 Being done vnknowne, I should haue found it afterwards well done. View more context for this quotation
1672 R. Wiseman Treat. Wounds i. viii. 74 The Patient, unknown to me, pursued his intention.
1761 F. Sheridan Mem. Miss Sidney Bidulph II. 228 He stole unknown to any body, on board a ship.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 12 Unknown to them, when sensual pleasures cloy, To fill the languid pause with finer joy.
1820 J. Keats Isabella in Lamia & Other Poems 54 All close they met,..Unknown of any, free from whispering tale.
1898 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner iii The terrible distress..going on unknown to us in our very midst.
1923 Today's Housewife Aug. 3/1 She had studied stenography and typewriting, unknown to her father.
1971 Daily Tel. 24 Sept. 11/5 Unknown to many mothers, orthodontics..are available on the National Health Service.
2012 A. W. Hatheway Remediation Former Manuf. Gas Plants 1255 The underwater mine was located directly below the port, unknown to today's ferry boatloads of tourists.
2. Not known through personal experience or acquaintance; not familiar. Cf. know v. II.
a. Of a person: that is not known to another person or group of people; unfamiliar, unrecognized; (sometimes also) not well-known by another person; not fully or intimately understood. Often in predicative use, with by, to, †of. Also figurative.In quot. lOE at α. with dative.unknown, unkissed, see unkissed adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [adjective] > outside one's knowledge > of persons
unknownlOE
unacquainted1529
α.
β. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 87 Þan were þe Parthi as it were..vnknowe [L. obscuri] amonge men of the est londes.c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Friar's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 99 I am vnknowen as in this contree.a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) v. l. 1579 He was yn purpos gret Hvm self lyk a Pylgrym to degyse..but he may not contrefete To ben vnknowen of folk þat weren wyse.c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 175 Ane vnknowen man sittand on a hors.a1500 (?a1390) J. Mirk Festial (Gough) (1905) 207 Scho..was þer þrytte ȝere vnknowon of all men wythout mete oþir drynke.a1645 W. Laud Hist. Troubles & Tryal (1695) xxix. 369 Dr. Chappel was a Cambridge Man, altogether unknown to me.1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Knight's Tale in Fables 577 Sith his face was so disfigured Of malady..He might well, if that he bare him low, Liue in Athenes euermore vnknow.1797 H. Lee Canterbury Tales I. 364 To Lothaire the lord of St. Aubert was personally unknown.1846 A. Marsh Father Darcy II. x. 164 Mr. Keyes..was a man quite unknown about town.1885 Phrenol. Mag. Aug. 340 Showing how unobservant people commonly are, and how a man may for half a life-time be unknown by his neighbours.1925 N.Y. Times 17 July 8 Identification of an unknown man who leaped to death at Niagara Falls.1950 Studies 39 15 She [sc. Emily Brontë] was unknown by those among whom she lived.1997 L. Ferrari EastEnders (BBC TV script) (O.E.D. Archive) Episode 552. 20 (stage direct.) Sarah..is surprised to see Joe talking to an unknown girl.lOE Homily: Evangelium de Virginibus (Corpus Cambr. 303) in H. L. C. Tristram Vier Altenglische Predigten aus der Heterodoxen Trad. (Ph.D. diss., Freiburg) (1970) 440 Þa oðre fif mædena..cleopoden to þan brydgume þus cweðende, hlaford hlaford, geopena us þa duru. Se brydgume heom andwyrde, nelle ic hit eow geopenian forþon þe ge synde me ungecnawe.
b. That has not experienced sexual intercourse; virginal; chaste. Often with †of, to. Cf. know v. 8. Now archaic and rare.In quot. c1390: unfamiliar with sexual intercourse (cf. sense A. 2c).
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > virginity > [adjective] > virginal
unknowna1382
maidena1400
untouchedc1400
undefiledc1450
virginal1483
indeflore?a1513
maidenly1530
undeflowereda1533
virginly1548
untwight1558
virgin1560
unravished1563
undeflore1568
unexperta1586
virgin-like1586
vestal1595
virgineous1607
virginian1613
unseduceda1616
indevirginate?1624
zoned1726
virgie1930
unlaid1962
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1959) Gen. xxiv. 16 Lo Rebecca ȝede out..afull semely damsell & most feyre mayden: & vnknow to man [a1425 L.V. vnknowun of man; L. incognita viro].
c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 109 Heil, vnknowen to Monnes moon, Mayden wiþ-outen make!
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 10874 (MED) She [sc. Mary] seide, ‘aungel how may þis be, Siþen man is vnknowen to me [a1400 Vesp. hu sal i brede, þat neuer hadd part of flessli dede Of man]?’
c1426 J. Audelay Poems (1931) 150 (MED) Hayle, vergyn..ȝe dysseruydyn, I say, honly, To be a moder vnknowyn to mon.
1530 Bible (Tyndale) Gen. xxiiij. f. xxxi The damsell was very fayre to loke apon, and yet a mayde and vnknowen of man.
1613 T. Milles tr. P. Mexia et al. Treasurie Auncient & Moderne Times 677/2 He restored her as chaste, vntoucht or vnknowne of him..as when she was brought a prisoner to him.
1630 J. Gaule Practique Theories Abrahams Entertainm. Angels 136 He tels her of one Old, and Barren both, that shee might not distrust her selfe, though pure and vnknowne.
1678 R. Mayo Conf. betwixt Protestant & Jew 19 This then is the derivation of the word, and it properly signifies an unknown and an untoucht Virgin.
1785 W. Hayley tr. A. E. Avitus in Philos., Hist., & Moral Ess. Old Maids II. 223 The unknown virgin in the Abbot's shape For succour cries, and struggles to escape.
1812 J. Jones Eccl. Researches ii. vi. 329 If Mary did really conceive, while she was yet a virgin, and unknown to Joseph, how came she at the same time, to be espoused to him, and by her intercourse with him expose herself to unjust suspicion?
1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out ii. 29 She was a bride going forth to her husband, a virgin unknown of men.
2000 L. O'Donnell Midnight Shadow xxix. 218 Was he wrong about her? Was she a virgin unknown to men?
c. Of a place, experience, thing, etc.: not previously encountered; unfamiliar; new, strange. Also: (of an event, occurrence, etc.) unprecedented; unheard of. Frequently with to.In quot. 1606 with of: cf. to know of —— 2 at know v. Phrasal verbs.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [adjective] > of places, paths: unexplored
uncouthc960
uncoutha1000
unknowna1393
undiscovered1555
unbeaten1617
tractless1628
unbeat1635
untravelled1646
trackless1656
unexplored1697
unmapped1805
uncharted1895
unlocated1902
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iv. 487 (MED) Togedre..Liggende abedde upon a nyht, Nature..Constreigneth hem so that thei use Thing which to hem was al unknowe.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 1170 I sal be flemed for mi sinne, In vnknaun [a1400 Trin. Cambr. vnkond, a1400 Vesp. vncuth] land to duell ine.
?c1425 (c1380) G. Chaucer Former Age (Cambr. Ii.3.21) (1878) l. 6 Onknowyn was þe quyerne and ek the melle.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 158 Then oure lady..was sturred in her harte wyth vnspecable & vnknowen gladnesse.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball 5 Straunge herbes..vnknowen of the common people.
1606 G. W. tr. Epit. Liues Emperors in tr. Justinus Hist. sig. Gg 2 When nature did hatch such euils as were vnknowne of to the whole world.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 112 So vast a space Of Wilds unknown..Allures their Eyes. View more context for this quotation
1777 W. Robertson Hist. Amer. (1783) I. 55 A sudden squall of wind..landed them on an unknown island.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. xxiv. 344 The fishes of the unknown deep.
1846 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 II. ix. 402 The armies..beheld countries previously unknown.
1935 T. G. Turner in Los Angeles Times 2 Dec. a1 Tamales and enchiladas are unknown to the Spanish, being as Mexican as doughnuts and popcorn are Yankee.
1989 Trans. Philol. Soc. 87 67 It is certainly not unknown for the process of forming compound verbs to become unproductive.
2008 N. Draper & C. Hodgson Adventure Sport Physiol. x. 397 Many of these leaves and plants were totally unknown to us.
d. Of a person or group or (in later use) of work produced by a person or group: not renowned or famous; not widely known, significant, or influential; obscure.
ΚΠ
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Gött.) l. 12131 Ani man, vnknauen or cuth.
?c1400 (c1380) G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (BL Add. 10340) (1868) ii. pr. iv. l. 1073 Som man is renomed of noblesse of kynrede. but he is enclosed in so grete angre for nede of þinges. þat hym were leuer þat he were vnknowe [L. ignotus; Fr. mescogneus].
1555 R. Eden in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde Pref. sig. ajv It had byn better for hym to haue byn obscure and vnknowen.
1654 J. Crandon Mr. Baxters Aphorisms Exorized & Anthorized Ep. Ded. sig. A3 I dwell in one of the obscurest nooks of this English little world, so unknown as he is famous.
1723 B. Bennet Def. Memorial Reformation 43 He goes on to other queries..(comparing the unknown author, Mr. Strype, and me together in point of authority).
1779 London Mag. Sept. 417/1 In our Review of Books for that month we ventured to predict that the then unknown author would acquire great literary reputation.
1819 T. Campbell Specimens Brit. Poets VI. 258 He [sc. Oliver Goldsmith] applied to Lord Bute for a salary... The petition was neglected, because he was then unknown.
1831 R. Watson Life John Wesley xi. 234 The work remained unknown in the colonies until a considerable time afterwards.
1919 Editor 25 May 53/1 If the choice were between an unknown writer and a well-known writer..the chances are..the well known writer would be accepted.
1977 Winnipeg Free Press 30 Apr. (Leisure section) 2/6 A friend of the Beatles when the group was still unknown and working in West Germany.
1991 J. Richardson Life of Picasso I. xiii. 198 Coquiot's principal job was to drum up support for the unknown artist by writing an elegant puff of a preface.
2006 TDR 50 23 His work was still unknown outside Poland.
a. Uninformed, unaware. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > unfamiliarity with, inexperience > [adjective]
unwistc1374
unknowna1393
ignorantc1475
imperfect1508
rawa1513
unskilfula1547
imperite?1550
illiterate1556
strange1561
unacquainted1565
green-headed1569
unacquainted1581
unacquaint1587
unfledged1603
inexperienced1626
guiltless1667
inexperient1670
unconversanta1674
unversed1675
uninitiated1678
a stranger to1697
uninitiate1801
inconversant1802
lay1821
griffish1836
wet behind the ears1851
neophytic1856
griffinish1860
experienceless1875
neophytish1897
wet-eared1967
the world > action or operation > ability > inability > unskilfulness > [adjective] > in something spec.
unlearnedc1384
unknowna1393
unskilled1581
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) ii. l. 1105 (MED) Thus sche lai, Unknowe what hire schal betide.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 26666 Þat is þou art vn-knawen of ani man synnis bot þine awen.
a1439 J. Lydgate Fall of Princes (Bodl. 263) i. l. 4035 (MED) Thoruh his cruel vengaunce, He made me vnknowe to drynke ther blood.
a1475 Asneth l. 590 in Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. (1910) 9 251 (MED) Þat he was aungel sche was unknowe.
b. Characterized by lack of knowledge or wisdom; ignorant; unlearned; unskilled. Also with in. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > [adjective]
unlearedeOE
untowenc1000
unwittyc1000
skillessc1175
uncouthc1220
lewda1225
lorelessa1300
simplea1325
layc1330
uncunning1340
untaughtc1340
unknowingc1350
rudea1382
roida1400
unquainta1400
ignorant?c1400
unlearnedc1400
misknowing?a1425
simple-hearted?c1425
unknownc1475
unkenningc1480
unweeting1483
nescienta1500
craftlessc1530
misliterate1532
sillya1547
ingram1553
gross1561
inscient1578
borowe1579
plain-headeda1586
empirical1588
rudeful1589
lack-learning1590
learnless?1593
wotless?1594
ingrant1597
untutored1597
small-knowing1598
uninstructed1598
unlearnt1609
unread1609
unware?1611
nescious1623
inscious1633
inscientifical1660
uninformed1702
unaware1704
unable1721
unsuspecting1776
inerudite1801
ill-informed1824
incognoscent1827
unminded1831
unknowledgeable1837
knowledgelessc1843
parviscient1862
clueless1943
c1475 tr. Henri de Mondeville Surgery (Wellcome) f. 163 (MED) Þat a man procede not by vnknowen worchinge, Jt is to knowe how manye instrumentis & whiche ben necessarie & moost profitable.
a1500 Gospel of Nicodemus (Harl. 149) (1974) 114 Thou wast vnknowen [Fr. Vus mesconuistes] lyke a foole, ffor thys ys Jhesu that hathe chased a-wey the derknes of dethe.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 127 Sen ellis thow art vnknawin, To mak me Lord of my awin.
1653 W. Ramesey Astrologia Restaurata 3 We see thereby the folly of such..gain-sayers of what they are altogether unknown in.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > statement > repudiation or refusal to acknowledge > [adjective] > not acknowledging
unknowna1400
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 18796 Of vn-man-hede es it draun, To be again god dede vn-knaun.
c1475 (c1445) R. Pecock Donet (1921) 96 Þere may noon knowing, neiþir knowleching, of oure wickidnessis and of oure synnes, be so cleer..so sure, þat no synne be left bihinde for vnknowen and vnknowlechid.
B. n.
1.
a. A person who is not known; an unfamiliar or unidentified individual. Also (esp. in later use): a person who is not widely-known, famous, or significant; a nobody.In quot. c1450, in Fair Unknown, as an appellation of the main character in a popular medieval romance.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [noun] > one who is unimportant
unknownc1390
pawnc1450
semi-cipher?1550
bauble1570
Jack with the feather1581
nobody1583
winterling1585
squash1600
rush candle1628
niflec1635
nullity1657
nonentity1710
featherweight1812
underscrub1822
nyaff1825
small fish1836
no-account1840
little fish1846
peanut1864
commonplacer1874
sparrow-fart1886
Little Willie1901
pipsqueak1905
nebbish1907
pie-biter1911
blob1916
smallie1930
no-count1932
zilch1933
Mickey Mouse1935
muzhik1945
nerd1951
nothingburger1953
nerk1955
non-person1959
no-mark1982
the mind > language > naming > anonymity or lack of a name > [noun] > one whose name is unknown
unknownc1390
anonymous1551
incognito1638
anon.1683
anonym1683
anonym.1683
anonymity1695
incog1699
incognitaa1723
ineffable1859
c1390 in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) ii. 537 Ȝif þow þenke a wyf to take, Of ferre cuntre wommon forsake; An vnknowen [Fr. femme desconue] to take anon-riht Is nouȝt to Aferme at þe furste siht.
c1450 (a1400) Libeaus Desconus (Calig. A.ii) (1969) l. 71 Þan may ye wete a-rowe, Þe Fayre Vn-knowe, Sertes so hatte he.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iv. iv. 43 I am asham'd To looke vpon the holy Sunne,..remaining So long a poore vnknowne . View more context for this quotation
1652 R. Loveday tr. G. de Costes de La Calprenède Hymen's Præludia: 1st Pt. 8 The faire Unknowne found enough in his Noble looks to claime respect.
1686 tr. P. O. de Vaumorière Agiatis 71 To unite her self to that Unknown, whom she prefers before me.
1710 D. Manley Mem. Europe II. 137 I'll never run after the Cant of a Letter from an unknown again.
1774 Trinket 70 The charming unknown turned his eyes on me.
1827 W. Scott Life Napoleon II. v. 144 Having authorized money to be distributed to poor unknowns in the suburb of Saint Antoine.
1836 C. Dickens Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 159 The distinguished unknown who condescends to play the ‘swell’ in the pantomime.
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues x. 108 I opened Café Society as an unknown; I left two years later as a star.
1986 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 11 Nov. a14 It [sc. Arlington Cemetery] also holds the remains of 7,725 unknowns, mostly from the Civil War.
2011 Daily Tel. 7 Mar. 24/3 At the last minute, she found a design by a relative unknown.
b. Chiefly with the and plural agreement. Unfamiliar or unidentified people considered collectively; (also) people considered to be unremarkable, insignificant, or not worthy of note.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [noun] > instance of > person
unknowna1400
ignote1636
inconnu1807
dark horse1841
incognita1882
mystery man1922
no-name1984
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 11809 Þis herods..O carles costes al til vnknauin.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 2729 [They] cast þer armes of þe vnknawen, & armed þam eft with þer awen.
a1475 ( S. Scrope tr. Dicts & Sayings Philosophers (Bodl. 943) (1999) 24 (MED) Yeve to vnknowen [a1460 anon. tr. hem that bene vnknowen] for the loue of knowen.
1556 N. Grimald tr. Cicero Thre Bks. Duties i. f. 21v Whatsoeuer we may lend without hinderaunce, it be graunted to euerie bodie, yea to the vnknowne.
1560 T. Paynell tr. Erasmus Ciuilitie of Childehode sig. D.vii To tourne from the waye, and to geue place and reuerence to persons worthy of honor: and not to disprayse the unknowen.
1652 in tr. Choice Novels & Amarous Tales (To the Reader) sig. A3 The Academici Incogniti..easily perswaded a Gentleman,..to Translate some of the choisest [Novelle Amarose]; who is so far from being asham'd to be of the unknown, that 'tis his ambition.
1755 World 23 Jan. 26 A contempt for those who happen to be strangers to such societies, and consequently, a general prejudice against the unknown.
1856 I. M. Ward Valedictory Addr. Homoeopathic Med. College Pennsylvania 11 He [sc. a doctor] treads the narrow lane to the chamber of suffering, where the unknown dwell.
1921 Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner 11 Nov. 8/1 The single grave where rest the unknown of the war between the states, gathered from many battlefields.
2008 New Yorker 30 June 38/3 No, these kids are the white unknown, like the teenagers lounging on car hoods outside the Bazaar, our local dingy proto-mall.
2. Frequently with the. That which is unknown; anything or everything which is outside the scope of existing knowledge or experience; that which is beyond the limits of human comprehension or understanding. Also: a condition, circumstance, or context characterized as unknown or outside the scope of existing knowledge or experience. Cf. known n. 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [noun]
unknown1479
I know not what1711
unbeknown1888
1479 Earl Rivers tr. Cordyal (Caxton) iii. ii. Entre allone ferfully into the regyon, whiche is to the vnknowen.
1540 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus Catonis Disticha Moralia i. f. ix Exchaunge not easely the knowne with the unknowne.
a1678 J. Newton Cosmographia (1679) iv. iii. 426 The unknown or the parts of the World not fully discovered.
1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace ii. ii. 19 With Terrors round can Reason hold her throne, Despise the known, nor tremble at th'unknown?
1759 B. Porteus Death 300 When my Soul starting from the dark unknown Casts back a wishful look.
1816 T. Chalmers Let. in W. Hanna Mem. T. Chalmers (1851) II. 65 Running into the dark unknown of legal perplexities.
1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. I. iv. i. 168 A new omnipotent Unknown of Democracy was coming into being.
1911 Everybody's Mag. July 37/2 The hateful moment of rupture [i.e. death]..which, suddenly hurls us..into an unknown that is the home of the only invincible terrors which the human soul has ever felt.
1958 A. D. Ritchie Stud. in Hist. & Method Sci. iv. 58 The argument uses analogy to go from the known to the unknown.
1985 M. W. Bonanno Dwellers in Crucible i. 9 Humans possessed an instinctive, atavistic fear of the unknown.
2004 P. Southern Craze xxiii. 170 A footpath appeared before them, all graffitied and barbed wire, dark and long, funnelling into the unknown.
3. Mathematics. Any of the quantities in an equation, inequality, or other mathematical relation whose values are not known; an unknown quantity.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > [noun] > particular qualities > unspecified or indeterminate
so many1533
indeterminationa1620
unknown quantity1633
unknown1817
X1847
uncertainty1853
1817 H. T. Colebrooke tr. Bhāskara Āchārya in Algebra 63 The demonstration is by resolution of a quadratic equation involving several unknown.
1890 A. Marshall Princ. Econ. p. xi His equations are neither more nor less in number than his unknowns.
1920 Math. Teacher 13 10 The pupil should denote by a letter the unknown called for in the problem.
1973 Bull. Atomic Scientists Sept. 27/1 Clearly, in order to be able to evaluate n unknowns.., one needs to have n independent equations.
2014 J. Bird Understanding Engin. Math. xiii. 113/1 Equations containing three unknowns may be solved using exactly the same procedures as those used with two equations and two unknowns, providing that there are three equations to work with.
4. gen. An unknown thing; esp. an unknown factor, variable, or situation.Frequently influenced by sense B. 3.
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the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > want of knowledge, ignorance > that which is unknown > [noun] > instance of
terra incognita1616
indeterminable1646
X1808
unknown1829
incognita1846
the other side of the hill1852
terra ignotaa1925
another country1952
1829 Gentleman's Mag. July 37/1 If only a calendar of the unknowns was once obtained, historical elucidations would soon follow.
c1878 E. Dickinson Poems (1955) III. 849 Let my first Knowing be of thee With morning's warming Light—And my first Fearing, lest Unknowns Engulph thee in the night.
1948 R. Spiller et al. Lit. Hist. U.S. 1159 Sensitivity to spiritual unknowns.
1964 M. Gowing Brit. & Atomic Energy 1939–45 i. 36 He acknowledged the unknowns in the situation.
2014 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 20 Oct. a10/4 How the old guard..will fare in the elections is one of the unknowns.
Compounds
Unknown Soldier n. (also with lower-case initials) (with the) an unidentified member of a country’s war dead, chosen as a representative of all those killed in military service, and buried with honours in a national memorial; also in tomb of the Unknown Soldier: such a monument.The first of such burials took place on Armistice Day 1920 in Westminster Abbey (see Unknown Warrior n.) and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
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1920 Times 23 Oct. 11/3 The arrangements for the unveiling of the Cenotaph and the re-interring of the body of the unknown soldier are in the hands of Lord Curzon's Committee.
1920 Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 21 Dec. 5/2 Bareheaded, he placed a handsome wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe.
1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 36 Rupert Brooke, Old Bill, the Unknown Soldier—thus three fond women saw him.
1951 Times 2 Nov. 4/6 They laid another wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington cemetery.
1990 G. L. Mosse Fallen Soldiers v. 96 The Unknown Soldiers of other nations also received their burial place.
2012 Sun Herald (Sydney) (Nexis) 22 Apr. 16 This is the cemetery where the Unknown Soldier, now interred in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, was originally buried.
unknown unknown n. (chiefly in plural) something unknown, the existence of which is itself not known or understood; esp. a wholly unforeseen contingency; a significant issue or event that is not even imagined until it occurs. Cf. unk-unk n.In the late 20th cent. the term apparently became prevalent in the aerospace industry, and was later popularized by the American politician Donald Rumsfeld who used it in a news briefing relating to the Iraq War (see quot. 2002).
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1915 Math. Teacher (Syracuse, N.Y.) 7 105 The student of algebra spends a year or more studying unknown quantities, negative quantities..and at the end of that time he has mixed up in his mind a lot of unknown ‘unknowns’.
1950 Social Work Jrnl. 31 114/2 We recognize that our field is full of unknowns..but they tend to remain unknown unknowns.
1984 Univ. Chicago Law Rev. 51 969 They are not faced with a bolt from the blue, with an ‘unknown unknown’.
2002 D. Rumsfeld in Dept. Defense News Briefing 12 Feb. (transcript) in archive.defense.gov (O.E.D. Archive 2017) There are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know.
2017 Toronto Star (Nexis) 26 July a13 Every government, no matter how successful, eventually grapples with an existential crisis. An ‘unknown unknown’ that strikes out of the blue.
Unknown Warrior n. (also with lower-case initials) (with the) = Unknown Soldier n.; also in tomb of the Unknown Warrior.Chiefly with reference to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey (see note at Unknown Soldier n.). See also warrior n. 2a.
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1920 Times 29 Oct. 13/4 (heading) The unknown warrior.
1920 Manch. Guardian 9 Nov. 9/5 The unknown warrior will be brought to the Admiralty Pier, Dover, to-morrow afternoon, and will be received by a military party which will escort the body to London.
1920 Times 12 Nov. Suppl. p.iii/3 Both nations..offer their silent tribute at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
1939 C. Madge & T. Harrisson Brit. by Mass Observ. (2009) ii. 81 At Westminster Abbey, a distance of some fifteen yards east of the tomb of the Unknown Warrior has been roped off and flanked with kneeling chairs.
1980 I. Murdoch Nuns & Soldiers i. 42 The soldiers at the Unknown Warrior's grave in Warsaw.
2008 Church Times 7 Nov. 13/2 The absence of a figure on the Cenotaph could signify resurrection or agnosticism. It was complemented by the burial of the Unknown Warrior in the Abbey.
unknown God n. [originally and frequently after Hellenistic Greek Ἄγνωστος Θεός (New Testament: Acts 17:23)] an unfamiliar or unidentified god; (occasionally also) a god considered to be mysterious or beyond human understanding.Frequently with reference or allusion to Acts xvii. 23 (see quot. c1384).
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c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Deeds xvii. 23 I passinge, and seynge ȝoure symulacris, foond..an auter, in which was writun, To vnknowun God [a1425 L.V. to the vnknowun God].
1481 W. Caxton tr. Myrrour of Worlde iii. vii. sig. k3 He [sc. St Paul] called it the aulter of the god vnknowen & worshipped & adoured hym.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) Acts xvii. 23 I founde an aultre wher in was written: vnto the vnknowen god.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 96 The Arabians sacrifice a camell to the vnknowne God.
1795 G. Dyer Diss. on Theory & Pract. Benevolence 9 Solemn worshippers..though worshipping an unknown God.
1947 E. M. Forster in Harper's Mag. July 9/2 I add the proviso ‘if all goes well’ because success lies on the knees of an unknown God.
2012 Jrnl. Mod. Lit. 35 ii. 150 Gnosticism posits a dualistic cosmology wherein the good Unknown God is separate from the cosmos.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.OE