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inconnu

American  
[in-kuh-noo, -nyoo, ing-, an-kaw-ny] / ˌɪn kəˈnu, -ˈnju, ˌɪŋ-, ɛ̃ kɔˈnü /

noun

  • inconnus,
    plural
  • inconnu
    plural
  1. a person who is unknown; stranger.

  2. Also called sheefish.  a game fish, Stenodus leucichthys, of fresh or brackish northern waters.


inconnu British  
/ ˈɪnkənuː /

noun

  1. a North American freshwater food and game fish, Stenodus leucichthys , related to the salmon

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of inconnu

1800–10; < French: literally, unknown, equivalent to in- in- 3 + connu, past participle of connaître to know, be acquainted with < Latin cognōscere; see cognition

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Nearly overnight, Jimmy went from an inconnu to welcome everywhere in town.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 26, 2023

Le Chef-d’oeuvre inconnu 1, 2011 by Richard Hamilton, featuring Poussin, Courbet and Titian and ’resonant with respect for these great forbears’.

From The Guardian Oct. 13, 2012

Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu 1, 2011 by Richard Hamilton.

From The Guardian Oct. 13, 2012

The fish we now caught were carp, poisson inconnu, white fish, and trout.

From Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 Vol. I by Alexander Mackenzie

The inhabitants live principally on the fish, which the lake at certain seasons furnishes in great abundance; of these the white-fish, trout, and poisson inconnu are considered the best.

From The Journey to the Polar Sea by John Franklin

Riquet begins by barking fiercely when “des hommes inconnus, mal vêtus, injurieux et farouches” invade his beloved house, and ends in being lifted in silent misery and shut up in a portmanteau. 

From Rustic Sounds and Other Studies in Literature and Natural History by Sir Francis Darwin

One of the young Indians, however, was so fortunate as to find the net that had been missing, and which contained three of the poissons inconnus.

From Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 Vol. I by Alexander Mackenzie

Their renown, however, has been, eclipsed by the superior splendors of their great master, St. Dominic; —"Fils inconnus d'un si glorieux père."

From The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 2 by William Hickling Prescott

I—I have felt proud to think that we were once—that we were once—not des inconnus.

From The Big Drum A Comedy in Four Acts by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero

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