Etymologically
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inconnu

Etymology and origin of the French word inconnu

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
late 14th century, Eustache Deschamps (incongnu)
Ultimate origin
Latin (cognōscō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛ̃.kɔ.ny/[1]

Forms

inconnu (feminine inconnue, masculine plural inconnus, feminine plural inconnues)[1] Incongnu, incongneu (late 14th century), incogneu (16th century); inconnu in Desportes (1573).[2][3][4][5]

Etymology

It is formed from French in- + connu, the past participle of connaître, after Latin incognitus (“unexamined, unknown”).[2][3][4][6][1][7] “Connaître” goes back to Latin cognōscō (“to get to know”).[6]

Compare Old Occitan enconogut.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Eustache Deschamps (late 14th century) uses incongnu for what is not known.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

Montaigne (1588) applies it to people of no renown, and Jacques Grévin (1561) has the noun, a person one does not know.[4][2] Inconnu à is in Descartes (1647).[4] In mathematics une inconnue is an unknown quantity (1759, d'Alembert).[2] L'inconnu is what one does not know, and illustre inconnu is used ironically (Valéry, 1932).[1][8]

Timeline

  • late 14th century – Incongnu, Eustache Deschamps.[2]
  • 1561 – A stranger, Grévin.[2]
  • 1573 – Inconnu, Desportes.[2]
  • 1759 – Une inconnue in mathematics, d'Alembert.[2]
  • 1932 – Illustre inconnu, Valéry.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. unknown: une destination inconnue, de cause inconnue, inconnu de tous.[9][1]
  2. Whose identity is unknown: auteur inconnu; obscure, not famous.[9][4]
  3. Never experienced before: une sensation inconnue.[4]

Noun

  1. A stranger, an unknown person, illustre inconnu, someone nobody has heard of.[1][8]
  2. L'inconnu: the unknown.[1]
  3. (feminine, mathematics) Une inconnue: an unknown.[2]

Word family

  • inconnue

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 847b
  8. ^ a b c Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
Cite this entry

“Inconnu.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/inconnu. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

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