unknown
Americanadjective
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not known; not within the range of one's knowledge, experience, or understanding; strange; unfamiliar.
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not discovered, explored, identified, or ascertained.
the unknown parts of Antarctica.
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not widely known; not famous; obscure.
an unknown writer.
noun
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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.
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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.
adjective
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not known, understood, or recognized
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not established, identified, or discovered
an unknown island
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not famous; undistinguished
some unknown artist
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a person or thing whose action, effect, etc, is unknown or unpredictable
noun
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an unknown person, quantity, or thing
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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
Other Word Forms
- unknownness noun
Etymology
Origin of unknown
First recorded in 1250–1300, unknown is from the Middle English word unknow(e)n. See un- 1, known
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.
This is a step into the unknown for Bodo as they prepare to play in the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time.
From BBC
A remarkably complete skeleton uncovered along the UK's Jurassic Coast has been identified as a previously unknown species of ichthyosaur -- a group of prehistoric marine reptiles that once dominated the world's oceans.
From Science Daily
Instead of processing it on CODIS, they used another part of the DNA to search for potential relatives of the unknown killer in ancestry databases.
From Los Angeles Times
Whether my siblings knew that would happen is unknown.
From MarketWatch
A newly published study in Science announces the discovery of Spinosaurus mirabilis, a previously unknown species of spinosaurid dinosaur uncovered in Niger.
From Science Daily
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.
