known quantity

noun

1. Mathematics. a quantity whose value is given: in algebra, frequently represented by a letter from the first part of the alphabet, as a, b, or c.
2. any factor, circumstance, etc., that is already accepted or familiar:

   Her honesty is a known quantity.

Word History and Origins

Origin of known quantity¹

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

They are receiving a known quantity for a point guard who hasn’t played an NBA game in nearly two years.

From Washington Post

They’ll be more likely to order from you, a known quantity, rather than the thousands of other retailers jockeying for their attention.

From Search Engine Watch

What’s more, Supreme has already done tie-ups with Vans—another brand with streetwear and skateboard cred—the North Face, and Timberland, so it is a known quantity to VF.

From Fortune

Qualitatively evaluate what the known quantities are doing on their various types of pages.

From Search Engine Land

Profiling known quantities on the SERP for the topics your sites deal with could be a great way to head off any potential negative impact from a pending core update.

From Search Engine Land

Bill Cosby was already a known quantity when The Cosby Show began in 1984.

From The Daily Beast

Eight iterations in, Mario Kart has become something of a known quantity.

From The Daily Beast

So when Vitter got into trouble, he was a known quantity who had shown himself to be politically formidable.

From The Daily Beast

Getting hold of a known quantity is one thing, but—as evidenced by the results thus far—making it work is another.

From The Daily Beast

But a negative that high is frightening for a known quantity.

From The Daily Beast

She had an atomic weight upon which you could depend as upon any other known quantity.

From Project Gutenberg

The finely-divided substance containing the dioxide is digested in a solution of a known quantity of iron in sulphuric acid.

From Project Gutenberg

Her ideas were both contagious and epidemic, and she was always a known quantity in the place.

From Project Gutenberg

The materialist still makes use of the notion of eternity, and frequently handles it as though it were a perfectly known quantity.

From Project Gutenberg

A community like this is made up of the absolutely known quantity—of types repeating themselves through centuries.

From Project Gutenberg