Etymologically
Log in

incognitus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 19:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɪŋˈkɔŋ.nɪ.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [iŋˈkɔɲ.ɲi.tus][1]

Forms

incognitus (feminine incognita, neuter incognitum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from in- “not” and cognitus, participle of cognōscō “to get to know”.[2][1][3] De Vaan traces ⟨nōscō⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- (“to know”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Cicero, whom he dates 81–43 BC, and the OLD's first citations are from Cicero.[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Of a case it meant not investigated, untried, as in Cicero's causā incognitā condemnāre “to condemn without a hearing”; of facts, not ascertained; unknown, unfamiliar, strange; untested; undetected; and not recognised, as in Livy.[2][6][7]

British Medieval Latin used it for not found out, and incognitum est “it is not known”.[8] Italian incognito “unknown”, from it, gave English incognito in the 1640s, of a traveller with concealed identity.[3][5]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[2][5]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of the unrecognised.[2][5]
  • 1640s – English incognito is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of a case) Untried, unheard.[2]
  2. Unknown, unascertained; unfamiliar.[2]
  3. Untested.[2]
  4. Undetected; unrecognised, incognito.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press