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Showing results for unbeknown. Search instead for unbeknown+to.

unbeknown

American  
[uhn-bi-nohn] / ˌʌn bɪˈnoʊn /
Also unbeknownst

adjective

  1. unknown; unperceived; without one's knowledge (usually followed byto ).

unbeknown British  
/ ˌʌnbɪˈnəʊn /

adverb

  1. Also (esp Brit): unbeknownst.  without the knowledge (of a person)

    unbeknown to him she had left the country
"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

adjective

  1. rare not known (to)

"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

Etymology

Origin of unbeknown

1630–40; un- 1 + beknown ( late Middle English beknowe, past participle of beknowen ); be-, known

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.