agnostic

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*né
2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
3. Proto-Hellenic*ə-
4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓- (ă-)
5. Proto-Indo-European*ǵneh₃-
6. Proto-Indo-European*ǵn̥h₃sḱéti
7. Proto-Hellenic*gignṓskō
8. Ancient Greekγῐγνώσκω (gĭgnṓskō)
9. Ancient Greekἄγνωστος (ágnōstos)
10. Ancient Greekἀ- (a-)
11. Englisha-
12. Proto-Indo-European*ǵneh₃-
13. Proto-Indo-European*ǵneh₃tis
14. Ancient Greekγνῶσις (gnôsis)
15. Ancient Greekγνωστῐκός (gnōstĭkós)
16. EnglishGnostic
17. English todayagnostic

Coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1870. Either from Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος (ágnōstos, “ignorant, not knowing”), or from a- + Gnostic, deriving (either way) from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-, “not”) + γιγνώσκω (gignṓskō, “I know”).

Words from the same roots