unknown

[ uhn-nohn ]
See synonyms for: unknownunknowns on Thesaurus.com

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.

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

noun
  1. 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.

  2. 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 of unknown

1
First recorded in 1250–1300, unknown is from the Middle English word unknow(e)n.See un-1, known

Words Nearby unknown

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use unknown in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for unknown

unknown

/ (ʌnˈnəʊn) /


adjective
  1. not known, understood, or recognized

  2. not established, identified, or discovered: an unknown island

  1. not famous; undistinguished: some unknown artist

  2. unknown quantity a person or thing whose action, effect, etc, is unknown or unpredictable

noun
  1. an unknown person, quantity, or thing

  2. 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

Derived forms of unknown

  • unknownness, noun

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