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unknown

 - 3 dictionary results

un⋅known

  [uhn-nohn]
Use unknown in a Sentence
–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
4. 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.
5. 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.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME unknow(e)n. See un- 1 , known
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To unknown
un·known   (ŭn-nōn')   
adj.  

  1. Not known; unfamiliar: a modern-day problem unknown in earlier times.

    1. Not identified or ascertained: received flowers from an unknown admirer.

    2. Not established or verified.

  3. Not well known or widely known: an unknown artist.

n.  

    1. A person or thing that is unknown: "the abyss of the unknown" (Helena Petrovna Blavatsky).

    2. A person who is not well known, as to the general public: cast an unknown in the starring role.

  2. Mathematics A quantity of unknown numerical value.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

unknown  (adj.)
c.1300, "strange, unfamiliar" (of persons, places), from un- (1) "not" + pp. of know. Cf. O.E. ungecnawen. In ref. to facts, attested from c.1330. The noun meaning "unknown person" is recorded from 1597.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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