unknown

[ uhn-nohn ]

adjective

1. not known; not within the range of one's knowledge, experience, or understanding; strange; unfamiliar.
2. not discovered, explored, identified, or ascertained:

   the unknown parts of Antarctica.

3. not widely known; not famous; obscure:

   an unknown writer.

noun

1. a thing, influence, area, factor, or person that is unknown:

   the many unknowns in modern medicine; The director cast an unknown in the leading role.

2. Mathematics. a symbol representing an unknown quantity: in algebra, analysis, etc., frequently represented by a letter from the last part of the alphabet, as x, y, or z.

unknown

/ ʌnˈnəʊn /

adjective

1. not known, understood, or recognized
2. not established, identified, or discovered

   an unknown island

3. not famous; undistinguished

   some unknown artist

4. unknown quantity
   a person or thing whose action, effect, etc, is unknown or unpredictable

noun

1. an unknown person, quantity, or thing
2. maths a variable, or the quantity it represents, the value of which is to be discovered by solving an equation; a variable in a conditional equation

   3y = 4x + 5 is an equation in two unknowns

Derived Forms

• unˈknownness, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of unknown¹

First recorded in 1250–1300, unknown is from the Middle English word unknow(e)n. See un- ¹, known

Example Sentences

“There is such a body of unknowns,” one MP - who is trying to keep a close eye on things - told me.

From BBC

Griffith is separately accused of abusing an unknown number of children in the state of New South Wales.

From BBC

The vehicle’s logbook was also sent to her home - registered to an unknown business and her address.

From BBC

Part of two flats on the first and second floors remain alight, LFB added, but the cause of the fire is unknown.

From BBC

The mechanisms controlling this host cell death are largely unknown.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• anonymous
• exotic
• foreign
• nameless
• new
• remote
• strange
• uncharted
• undiscovered
• unexplained
• unexplored
• unfamiliar
• unidentified
• unnamed
• unrecognized