incognitum

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noun

An American mammoth or mastodon, especially when presumed extant.

OriginLatin incognitum →
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

nounincognitum (plural incognita)

plural incognita

  1. archaicAn American mammoth or mastodon, especially when presumed extant.

    When, as president, he dispatched Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to the Northwest, Jefferson hoped that they would come upon live incognita roaming its forests.

    2014, Elizabeth Kolbert, chapter 2, in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Henry Holt and Company

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
mastodon

Origin

  1. Latinincognitum“unknown”
  2. Englishincognitum

Borrowed from Latin incognitum (“unknown”). Coined by William Hunter.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

incognitum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incognitum

MLA

“incognitum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incognitum. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “incognitum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/incognitum.

Source: incognitum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.