unknown meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

unknown

adj

UK /ʌn(ˈn)əʊn/ · US /ʌnˈnoʊn/

Etymology From Middle English *unknowen, *uniknowen, uniknowe, from Old English unġecnāwen (“unknown”), equivalent to un- + known.

Postpositional, Sometimes Not known; unidentified; not well known.

The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:
I suspect that this large and complex military railway system, shrouded in official secrecy for most of its operational life, remains unknown to many people.2022 January 12, Chris Hegg, “The secret railway in the woods”, in RAIL, number 948, page 34:

Synonyms: ignote, knownless, strange, obscure, unascertained, unapprehended, undiscovered, unexplained, unfamiliar, uninvestigated, unknown, unrecognized, unrevealed
Antonyms: ascertained, familiar, famous, known, recognizable, recognized, well-known
Derived terms: as-yet-unknown, as yet unknown, parts unknown, person unknown, unknome, unknown known, unknownly, unknownness, unknown number, unknown quantity, unknown unknown
Related terms: infra dig, infra dignitatem, hidden, incomprehensible
Hyponyms: mysterious, unfamous

noun

Etymology From Middle English *unknowen, *uniknowen, uniknowe, from Old English unġecnāwen (“unknown”), equivalent to un- + known.

Algebra, Mathematics, Sciences A variable (usually x, y or z) whose value is to be found.

Any thing, place, or situation about which nothing is known; an unknown fact or piece of information.

Had God walked close beside her into the unknown?1957, Ethel Erford Hewitt, Into the Unknown: An Historical Novel, page 351:
I think I learned more from my family than they did from me in the brief idyllic time we spent together. None of them much more than a mile from home, they carried the aura of a close-knit community as a shield against against the unknown.1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 217:

2 more examples

As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know.2003 [2002], Donald Rumsfeld, edited by Hart Seely, Pieces of Intelligence: The Existential Poetry of Donald H. Rumsfeld:
The other priority is getting people to respond well to interventions, especially changes to routine. This is one of the biggest unknowns in these scenarios, and yet compliance can be the most crucial factor in determining whether an intervention works.2020 April 9, Ian Boyd, “We practised for a pandemic, but didn’t brace”, in Nature, volume 580, number 7802, page 9:

A person of no identity; a nonentity.

How does it feel, / how does it feel? / To be on your own, / with no direction home / A complete unknown, / like a rolling stone1965, Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”, in Bob Dylan (lyrics), Highway 61 Revisited (vinyl), performed by Bob Dylan, Columbia Records, →OCLC, side A of retail US single; on YouTube, English - en (en-nP7-2PuUl7o) subtitles 2:21.875 --> 2:48.701:
Khaleque, the landowner, who had contributed most of the money needed to transform the neglected burial-place of an unknown into a mazar, masked his pride and pleasure with difficulty. He solemnly declared: ‘Perhaps now we shall be forgiven for neglecting the saint all these years.’1967 [1949], Syed Waliullah, chapter 3, in Tree Without Roots (Fiction), London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 27: