inconnu

[ in-kuh-noo, -nyoo, ing-; French an-kaw-ny ]

noun

, plural in·con·nus [in-k, uh, -, nooz, -, nyooz, ing-, a, n, -kaw-, ny], in·con·nu.

1. a person who is unknown; stranger.
2. Also called sheefish. a game fish, Stenodus leucichthys, of fresh or brackish northern waters.

inconnu

/ ˈɪnkənuː /

noun

1. a North American freshwater food and game fish, Stenodus leucichthys , related to the salmon

Word History and Origins

Origin of inconnu¹

1800–10; < French: literally, unknown, equivalent to in- in- ³ + connu, past participle of connaître to know, be acquainted with < Latin cognōscere; cognition

Word History and Origins

Origin of inconnu¹

C19: from French, literally: unknown

Example Sentences

Nearly overnight, Jimmy went from an inconnu to welcome everywhere in town.

From Los Angeles Times

Nearly overnight, Jimmy went from an inconnu to welcome everywhere in town.

From Los Angeles Times

UNDERWOOD, Wash. — Laura Brennan Bissell was already making wine under her own label, Inconnu, in Northern California when she visited the Columbia River Gorge for the first time.

From New York Times

She worked hard developing her California label, Inconnu, which will continue, but she knows she’s been lucky.

From New York Times

For a dish of salmon with figs and fennel in a red-wine sauce, Aaron Fusco of Café Boulud picked two less-conventional reds, a 2014 cabernet sauvignon and a 2014 merlot from the Carneros region of Sonoma County, both from Inconnu Wine.

From New York Times