unknown

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ known, past participle of know. Compare Old English ungecnawen.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʌnˈnəʊn/
• (US) enPR: ŭn-nōnʹ, IPA^(key): /ʌnˈnoʊn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

unknown (comparative more unknown, superlative most unknown)

1. (sometimes postpositive) Not known; unidentified; not well known.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 4, in The Celebrity:

     The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

Synonyms

• anonymous
• unfamiliar
• uncharted
• undiscovered

• unexplored
• unidentified
• unnamed
• unrecognized

• unrevealed
• unascertained
• obscure
• unsung

Antonyms

• well-known
• famous
• known

Derived terms

• unknown quantity

Translations

not known

• Albanian: panjohur (sq)
• Arabic: مَجْهُول‎‎ (majhūl)
• Catalan: desconegut (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 未知 (zh) (wèizhī), 不明 (zh) (bùmíng)

• Chukchi: гэвэты ваԓьын (gėvėty vaḷʹyn)
• Czech: neznámý (cs) m
• Danish: ubekendt, ukendt (da)
• Dutch: onbekend (nl), ongekend (nl), ongeweten
• Esperanto: nekonata
• Finnish: tuntematon (fi)
• French: inconnu (fr)
• Galician: descoñecido (gl)
• Georgian: უცნობი (ucnobi)
• German: unbekannt (de)
• Greek: άγνωστος (el) (ágnostos)

  Ancient: ἄγνωστος (ágnōstos), ἄγνωτος (ágnōtos)

• Hungarian: ismeretlen (hu)
• Icelandic: óþekktur (is) m, ókunnur m
• Indonesian: tak diketahui
• Italian: ignoto (it), sconosciuto (it)

• Japanese: 未知の (ja) (michi no), 無名な (ja) (mumei na)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: نه‌ناسراو‎‎

• Latin: incognitus, ignoratus, ignotus, nescitus, obscurus (la)
• Latvian: nepazīstams, svešs
• Lithuanian: nežinomas
• Macedonian: непознат (nepoznat)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ukjent

  Nynorsk: ukjent

• Persian: مجهول‎‎ (fa) (najhul)
• Polish: nieznany (pl)
• Portuguese: desconhecido (pt) m, desconhecida f
• Romanian: necunoscut (ro), neștiut (ro), obscur (ro)
• Russian: неизве́стный (ru) (neizvéstnyj) (neizvéstnij)
• Sanskrit: अज्ञात (sa) (ajñāta)
• Slovene: neznano
• Spanish: ignoto (es), desconocido (es)
• Swedish: okänd (sv)
• Turkish: bilinmeyen (tr), bilinmez (tr), meçhul (tr)

Noun

unknown (plural unknowns)

1. (algebra) A variable (usually x, y or z) whose value is to be found.
2. Any fact or place about which nothing is known (as in the phrase "into the unknown").
3. A person of no identity; a nonentity
   • 1965, Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone

     How does it feel

     To be on your own

     With no direction home

     Like a complete unknown

     Like a rolling stone?

Translations

variable

• Finnish: tuntematon (fi)
• French: inconnue (fr) f
• Galician: incógnita f
• German: Unbekannte (de) f
• Greek: άγνωστος (el) (ágnostos)
• Hungarian: ismeretlen (hu)
• Icelandic: óþekkt stærð f
• Macedonian: непозната f (nepoznata)

• Portuguese: incógnita (pt) f
• Romanian: necunoscută (ro) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: непозната f

  Roman: nepoznata (sh) f

• Spanish: incógnita f
• Turkish: değişken (tr)

fact or place

• Finnish: tuntematon (fi)
• French: inconnu (fr) m
• Galician: descoñecido (gl) m

• Hungarian: ismeretlen (hu)
• Portuguese: desconhecido (pt) m
• Spanish: desconocido (es) m

person of no identity

• Galician: descoñecido (gl) m, descoñecida f
• German: Unbekannter (de) m
• Hungarian: idegen (hu)

• Japanese: 名無し (nanashi)
• Portuguese: desconhecido (pt) m
• Swedish: okänd (sv)