English
agnostic
Agnostic may come from Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος ‘ignorant, not knowing’, from γῐγνώσκω ‘to know’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-1‘to recognise, to know’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱéti2‘to recognise’uncertain
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gignṓskō2uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγῐγνώσκω3‘to know’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγνωστος4ágnōstos‘ignorant, not knowing’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1876agnostic4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω
- 3 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος
- 4 Wiktionary, English agnostic
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1876, Leslie Stephen, An Agnostic's Apology: “The Agnostic is one who asserts—what no one denies—that…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti‘to recognise, to know’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱétiWiktionary, Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω‘to recognise’uncertain
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*gignṓskōWiktionary, Ancient Greek γιγνώσκωuncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEγῐγνώσκωWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος‘to know’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἄγνωστοςWiktionary, English agnosticágnōstos‘ignorant, not knowing’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1876agnosticWiktionary, English agnostic. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “agnostic”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti, Ancient Greek γιγνώσκω, Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- / agnostic