English
agnostic
Agnostic may come from Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος ‘ignorant, not knowing’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγνωστοςágnōstos‘ignorant, not knowing’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1876agnostic
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγνωστοςágnōstos‘ignorant, not knowing’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1876agnostic
Earliest quotation: 1876, Leslie Stephen, An Agnostic's Apology: “The Agnostic is one who asserts—what no one denies—that…”
The story
Coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1870.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise, to know’
can, could, know, normal, glory, con, narrative, ken, recognition, keen, ignore, ignorant, norm, cunning, narration, denote, canny, prognosis, connoisseur, annotation, uncouth, acquaint, canna, kith, recognizance, noblesse, cun, ignoble, gnosis, 85 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti ‘to recognise’
note, recognize, notice, noble, cognitive, notion, notorious, nobility, quaint, notation, notoriety, cognition, notary, incognito, annotate, cognizance, 46 more
through Proto-Hellenic *gignṓskō
Today it means
adj Doubtful or uncertain about the existence or demonstrability of God or other deity.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος / agnostic