known
UK/nəʊn/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Northumbria/naːn/
known adjective: identified as a specific type; famous, renowned. Also the past participle of know.
Adjective
known (comparative better known, superlative best known)
- Identified as a specific type; famous, renowned.
- He was a known pickpocket.
- Being not knowne, some great persons in the pew I pretended to, and went in, did question my coming in.1664 April 3 (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...
- Antonyms:
- unknown
- Accepted, familiar, researched.
- At the time, Einstein's theory was unknown to most other scientists.
- 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...2013 July-August, Stephen P. Lownie, David M. Pelz, “Stents to Prevent Stroke”, in American Scientist
- Antonyms:
- unknown
Noun
known (plural knowns)
- Any fact or situation which is known or familiar.
- You have to tell the knowns from the unknowns.
- The biological dereplication tool may identify major knowns in a mixture, but it may miss novel minor components.2012, Thomas Dougherty, Antibiotic Discovery and Development, volume 1, page 39
- A constant or variable the value of which is already determined.
Also used as
known is also the past participle of know.
known meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
known in Hindi
- whom other people know; renowned, famous
- विदित vidit, मालूम mālūm, ज्ञात jñāt
known in Tamil
- தெரிந்தவர், தெரிந்தவை, தெரிந்த
known in Marathi
- ज्ञात
known in Urdu
- whom other people know; renowned, famous
- معلوم mālūm
More languagesFewer languages
- known in Bengali
- পরিচিত
- known in Telugu
- తెలిసిన, తెలిసినది, తెలిసినవి
- known in Odia
- ଜଣା
- known in Sanskrit
- ज्ञात jñāta
- known in Arabic
- مَعْلُوم maʕlūm
- known in Persian
- شناخته šenâxte
Examples of known in a sentence
- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy is more commonly known by its abbreviated form BSE.
- The youth of today have never known what life is like without a cell phone.
- Malware's sometimes been known to sit dormant for a long time.
Antonyms of known
Forms of known
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | better known |
| superlative | best known |
| alternative form (obsolete) | knowne |
| Noun | |
| plural | knowns |
Origin of known
From Middle English knowen, from Old English cnāwen (past participle). Morphologically know + -n.
Words formed from known
Phrases with known
- known of
- best known
- known ball
- less known
- made known
- make known
- well known
- known about
- known known
- least known
- makes known
- better known
83 more phrasesFewer phrases
- known better
- known knowns
- lesser known
- little known
- making known
- also known as
- known someone
- known unknown
- littler known
- unknown known
- known A from B
- known quantity
- known the shit
- known universe
- known unknowns
- littlest known
- known fine well
- known full well
- known no bounds
- known the drill
- known the score
- known universes
- let it be known
- known any better
- known one's shit
- known quantities
- lets it be known
- formerly known as
- known beans about
- known one's place
- known one's stuff
- known one's onions
- known back to front
- known what was what
- letting it be known
- known inside and out
- known one's own head
- known one's own mind
- known what's o'clock
- who would have known
- known how to pick 'em
- known where one stood
- known which end is up
- known and described as
- known one's way around
- known when to fold 'em
- known shit from Shinola
- known someone from Adam
- known from a bar of soap
- known B from a battledore
- known what o'clock it was
- known a B from a battledore
- known every trick in the book
- known how many beans make five
- known one's head from one's ass
- known one's ass from one's elbow
- known someone from Adam's off ox
- known if one was Arthur or Martha
- known like the back of one's hand
- known one's arse from one's elbow
- known someone from a can of paint
- known where the bodies were buried
- known someone in the biblical sense
- known someone from a hole in the wall
- a man is known by the company he keeps
- known how to walk before one could run
- known someone from the man in the moon
- known someone from the man on the moon
- known whether one was Arthur or Martha
- known someone from a hole in the ground
- known what side of the bread is buttered
- known one's ass from a hole in the ground
- known what side of the bread was buttered
- known on what side one's bread is buttered
- known one's head from a hole in the ground
- known what side of one's bread is buttered
- known what side one's bread is buttered on
- known on what side one's bread was buttered
- known what side of one's bread was buttered
- known what side one's bread was buttered on
- known which side one's bread is buttered on
- known which side one's bread was buttered on
- known the difference between one's ass and a hole in the ground
Words that rhyme with known
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- moan
- throne
- atone
- clone
- crone
- prone
- depone
- hone
- loan
- cologne
- condone
- disenthrone
- disown
- eau de cologne
- enthrone
- groan
- intone
- roan
- Sloan
- Sloane
- thrown
- unknown
- bemoan
- cobblestone
- Copplestone
- grown
- joan
- none
- overgrown
- pension
- phone
- postpone
- redstone
- sone
- Stallone
- answer phone
- arthron
- beknown
- cauterizing stone
- compone
- crosne
- crown
- cuboidal bone
- cuttlefish bone
- Ediphone
- enzone
- flown
- Four Shire Stone
Questions about known
- What does known mean?
- Known means identified as a specific type; famous, renowned.
- What is known in Hindi?
- Known in Hindi is विदित (vidit), मालूम (mālūm), ज्ञात (jñāt). See Known meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is known?
- Known can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce known?
- Known is pronounced /nəʊn/ (UK).
Words near known in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: known (page history and authors); known (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); known (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); known (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); known (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); known (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-known.ogg, En-au-known.ogg.
Cite this entry: “known.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/known. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.