known

English

Etymology

From Middle English knowen, from Old English cnāwen (past participle).

Morphologically know +‎ -n.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /nəʊn/
• (General American) enPR: nōn, IPA^(key): /noʊn/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈnɐʉn/, (some speakers) /ˈnɐʉ.wən/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊn
• Homophone: none

Adjective

known (comparative better known, superlative best known)

1. Identified as a specific type; famous, renowned.

   Antonym: unknown

   He was a known pickpocket.

   • 1664 April 4 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “March 25th, 1664 (Lady day)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume IV, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1894, →OCLC, page 85:

     Being not knowne, some great persons in the pew I pretended to, and went in, did question my coming in.

2. Accepted, familiar, researched.

   Antonym: unknown

   At the time, Einstein's theory was unknown to most other scientists.

   • 2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist:

     As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.

Alternative forms

• knowne (obsolete)

Hyponyms

• best-known
• better-known
• lesser-known
• little-known
• well-known

Derived terms

• better known as
• last known good
• officially known as

Translations

that whom other people know, renowned, famous

• Albanian: njohur , i nim
• Arabic: مَعْلُوم (maʕlūm)
• Bhojpuri: ज्ञात (jñāt)
• Catalan: conegut (ca)
• Cebuano: giila
• Czech: známý (cs)
• Danish: kendt
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} konata (eo)
• Finnish: tunnettu (fi)
• French: connu (fr)
• Galician: coñecido, sabido (gl)
• Georgian: ცნობილი (ka) (cnobili), სახელოვანი (saxelovani)
• German: bekannt (de)
• Gothic: 𐌺𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (kunþs)
• Greek: γνωστός (el) (gnostós)

  Ancient: γνώριμος (gnṓrimos), γνωστός (gnōstós)

• Hindi: मालूम (hi) (mālūm), ज्ञात (hi) (jñāt)
• Hungarian: ismert (hu)
• Icelandic: þekktur
• Italian: conosciuto (it), noto (it)
• Kazakh: мәлім (mälım)
• Latin: nōtus (la)
• Norwegian: kjent (no)
• Old Czech: věst
• Old East Slavic: вѣстъ (věstŭ)
• Persian: شناخته (fa) (šenâxte)
• Polish: wiadomy (pl)
• Portuguese: conhecido (pt)
• Quechua: riqsisqa
• Russian: изве́стный (ru) (izvéstnyj)
• Sanskrit: ज्ञात (sa) (jñāta)
• Scots: kent
• Slovak: známy (sk)
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: znaty

• Spanish: conocido (es), que tiene fama de, cognocido por
• Swedish: känd (sv)
• Turkish: bilinen (tr)
• Ukrainian: відо́мий (vidómyj)
• Urdu: معلوم (ur) (mālūm)
• Welsh: hysbys (cy), gwybyddus (cy)

Noun

known (plural knowns)

1. Any fact or situation which is known or familiar.

   You have to tell the knowns from the unknowns.

   • 2012, Thomas Dougherty, Antibiotic Discovery and Development, volume 1, page 39:

     The biological dereplication tool may identify major knowns in a mixture, but it may miss novel minor components.

2. (algebra) A constant or variable the value of which is already determined.

Verb

known

1. past participle of know