adjective
Etymology
Origin of unrecorded
Explanation
If you neglect to write something down, photograph it, or otherwise document that it happened, it's unrecorded. Many unrecorded events in history are passed on through oral storytelling. When an event is recorded, it's filmed, described in writing, or somehow documented so that it can be referred to later. Anything unrecorded hasn't been captured in a permanent form. If your cousin's violin recital is unrecorded, that means no one took a video. The stories of people who hold little power in society have often gone unrecorded, so they're frequently left out of history books. The Latin root of unrecorded is recordari, "remember."
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.
With no official reporting structure, they fear many sightings risk going unrecorded, their details lost to time.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
The true death toll is probably higher; given that there are so many chimps in a large area, some deaths go unrecorded, according to the study.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
It’s only going to become a more frequent dilemma as streamers, surveillance cameras, and wearable glasses leave fewer moments of reality unrecorded.
From Slate ● Sep. 12, 2025
After analyzing layers of sediment at Carrizo Plain National Monument, researchers at Cal State Fullerton say they have identified two massive, unrecorded Southern California flood events within the last 600 years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2024
Not only do archaeologists like Dobyns, Perttula, and Ramenofsky argue that unrecorded pandemics swept through the Americas, they claim that the diseases themselves were of unprecedented deadliness.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
