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unknown

[uhn-nohn]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

not known; not within the range of one's knowledge, experience, or understanding; strange; unfamiliar.

not discovered, explored, identified, or ascertained: the unknown parts of Antarctica.

not widely known; not famous; obscure: an unknown writer.

noun

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.

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.

:10

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Unknown is always a great word to know.

So is perfect number. Does it mean:

a positive number that is equal to the sum of all positive integers that are submultiples of it, as 6, which is equal to the sum of 1, 2, and 3

to change the denomination or form, but not the value, of a fraction or polynomial

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Origin:
1250–1300; Middle English unknow(e)n. See un-¹, known

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To unknown

Example Sentences

Percentages do not include faculty members whose race was unknown.

It was as if the chaos of war seemed to comply with some hitherto unknown law of nature.

Scientists say the underwater hotspots may potentially host unique forms of life previously unknown to science.

EXPAND

Percentages do not include faculty members whose race was unknown.

It was as if the chaos of war seemed to comply with some hitherto unknown law of nature.

Scientists say the underwater hotspots may potentially host unique forms of life previously unknown to science.

Exploring the area between the unknown and the impossible,.

Just how the archosaur became afflicted with spondarthritis is unknown.

But the creatures unearthed also include eight taxa previously unknown to science.

There is no known treatment for the disease, the cause of which is unknown.

Female education, for instance, was once virtually unknown.

The deaths have alarmed conservationists and triggered investigations, but the exact cause remains unknown.

Where the known meets the unknown is where science begins.

Many unknown dinosaurs await discovery in rock formations all over the world, but some new species are hiding in plain sight.

Flash cookies are relatively unknown to web users, and they are not controlled through the cookie privacy controls in a browser.

That's the definition of basic science, and delving into the unknown is what makes it exciting.

E-commerce also allows unknown firms to establish new businesses cheaply and rapidly, and to compete with old-timers.

Yet today the true health costs of the nuclear disaster are still unknown.

Even as scans get faster and cheaper, many diseases still have unknown or sketchy genetic correlates.

Coelacanths have a hinged skull and an electrosensory organ unknown in other living fish.

Sometimes its about the weird and the wonderful from unknown.

When the subject heard the police coming, he ran in an unknown direction.

It is not unknown for a stock exchange to open without any stocks.

Cahokia was born with a bang and died of unknown causes.

High temperature, low oxygen and permanent darkness are no problem for a previously unknown species of nematode.

It hasn't been seen since, and its whereabouts are unknown.

At this early stage, the importance of viral parasites to human health or the environment is unknown.

In the beginning the universe was born in an unknown phenomenon currently known as the big bang.

But killings by children, though rare, are not unknown.

Schizophrenics sometimes feel the presence of an unknown person behind them who mimics their movements.

Civilizations have traded emeralds since antiquity, but the sources of many famous gems have remained unknown.

Attendees also got an early look at previously unknown and little-studied dinosaurs.

Mueller remains largely unknown to the general public.

The threshold at which a blow to the head or upper body causes a concussion is still unknown.

The reason why a high protein intake causes this feeling of fullness was, however, unknown.

Scientists have found a previously unknown population of vampire moths that may have evolved from a.

But exactly how this cell trafficking occurred was unknown.

The boy does not have a name, but he is not unknown.

Genome sleuthing shows the disease is caused by a previously unknown virus.

Number two--there were reviews done of my book by both known and unknown reviewers.

The exact combined length of its sections remains unknown.

Scientists have discovered a unique long-whiskered rodent representing a previously unknown mammal family.

Let's keep the dream alive and make the unknown elements of space known to our world.

Uranus was the first planet discovered that had been previously unknown.

It was as exciting and humbling as discovering an unknown continent.

It was previously unknown whether long-ago sea creatures laid eggs that were fertilized outside.

But sewage should be the first place to go-if you're looking for unknown viruses.

There whereabouts of the little dinosaur are still unknown.

Pain can be mysterious, untreatable and debilitating, and its causes can be unknown.

Even an unknown or unauthenticated artist's work deserves a public viewing.

But overall, much about terror bird behavior remains unknown.

But for every one of them, thousands of others unknown to us were lost.

Love the composition and the color as well as the dark unknown sky and bright lights nearer earth.

Police said the cause of death was unknown but added that an autopsy would be performed.

Having a degree from an unknown school isn't the kiss of death, but certainly doesn't work to your advantage.

More intense headaches are caused by unknown mechanisms.

Exactly how a hairworm parasitizes a cricket is unknown.

It is unknown if this bug was ever actually exploited.

Because not many branches have enough history to tell, the answer to that remains unknown.

Fortunately, those scourges are virtually unknown to modern generations that have had access to vaccines all their lives.

The discovery of a previously unknown species of hadrosaur from even older rock informs this hypothesis.

Still unknown is what those simplified controls will look like.

Cyanobacteria can sense ethylene, but whether they can produce the compound is unknown.

The power to produce the harvest was generated either by horse or human effort as tractors were virtually unknown in our area.

But the price was high, and microwave cooking was an unknown.

And chemical dispersants of unknown toxicity could be sprayed to break up oil patches.

Countless lab hours are spent in search of a medical cure that is still unknown.

How the relationship between the two species originated is unknown.

Its existence was unknown and undreamed of until a few years ago.

Some unknown force with negative pressure seems to be pushing the universe apart.

The motions of this visible material reveal that it is mere flotsam on an unseen sea of unknown material.

No company is going to take an unknown risk when it comes to revenue generation.

Nowadays many live on junk food which is unhealthy and brings too many unknown diseases.

For largely unknown reasons, roughly one in three patients receive no benefit from any.

Vulnerabilities exist in every system and there are two kinds: known and unknown.

Whether the public will accept food genetically modified to be low-allergen is still unknown.

It remains completely unknown to us what the objects may be by themselves and apart from the receptivity of our senses.

Relaxation and exposure to aversive stimuli ameliorate many such disorders, even if the ultimate cause is unknown.

The amount of neuraminidase in seasonal flu shots, he says, is unknown and likely varies from batch to batch.

These pictures were then matched with images of an unknown infant.

U-shaped curve, and its similar shape in different parts of the developed and even often developing world, is unknown.

It'll be a hard slog at first, but that's better than having a hard slog for an unknown number of generations.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

unknown (ʌnˈnəʊn)

—*adj*
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

—n
5.	an unknown person, quantity, or thing
6.	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

un'knownness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

unknown

c.1300, "strange, unfamiliar" (of persons, places), from un- (1) "not" + pp. of know. Cf. O.E. ungecnawen. In ref. to facts, attested from early 14c. The noun meaning "unknown person" is recorded from 1590s.

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"There are two great unknown forces to-day, electricity and woman, but men can reckon much better on electricity than they can on woman."

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unknown

un·known