inconnu French · revision 16613

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=late 14th century, Eustache Deschamps (incongnu)|origins=la cognōscō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɛ̃.kɔ.ny/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''inconnu''' (feminine inconnue, masculine plural inconnus, feminine plural inconnues)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Incongnu'', ''incongneu'' (late 14th century), ''incogneu'' (16th century); ''inconnu'' in Desportes (1573).^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|in-|connu]], the past participle of [[connaître]], after [[la|incognitus|t=unexamined, unknown]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|2, 847b) “Connaître” goes back to [[la|cognōscō|t=to get to know]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[pro|enconogut]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Eustache Deschamps (late 14th century) uses ''incongnu'' for what is not known.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Montaigne (1588) applies it to people of no renown, and Jacques Grévin (1561) has the noun, a person one does not know.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi) ''Inconnu à'' is in Descartes (1647).^(GLLF 1989) In mathematics ''une inconnue'' is an unknown quantity (1759, d'Alembert).^(TLFi) ''L'inconnu'' is what one does not know, and ''illustre inconnu'' is used ironically (Valéry, 1932).^(Wiktionary)^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 14th century – ''Incongnu'', Eustache Deschamps.^(TLFi)

+ * 1561 – A stranger, Grévin.^(TLFi)

+ * 1573 – ''Inconnu'', Desportes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1759 – ''Une inconnue'' in mathematics, d'Alembert.^(TLFi)

+ * 1932 – ''Illustre inconnu'', Valéry.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|unknown]]: ''une destination inconnue'', ''de cause inconnue'', ''inconnu de tous''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Whose identity is unknown: ''auteur inconnu''; obscure, not famous.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Never experienced before: ''une sensation inconnue''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|stranger]], an unknown person, ''illustre inconnu'', someone nobody has heard of.^(Wiktionary)^(BHVF)

+ # ''L'inconnu'': the unknown.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(feminine, mathematics)'' ''Une inconnue'': an unknown.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inconnue]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[connaître]]

+ * [[connu]]

+ * [[incognito]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}