Definition:
An agnostic is a person who believes that the existence or nature of God, gods, or ultimate reality is unknown or cannot be known with certainty. More broadly, agnostic can describe someone who does not claim definite knowledge or certainty about a particular question.
Etymology & Origin:
Agnostic comes from the Greek word ἄγνωστος (agnōstos), meaning “unknown” or “unknowable.”
It is formed from the Greek prefix a- (“not, without”) and gnōstos (“known”), from the verb gignōskein, meaning “to know” or “to recognise.”
The English term agnostic was coined by British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley in 1869 to describe his position that certain metaphysical questions, particularly those concerning God and ultimate reality, could not be claimed as known without sufficient evidence.
It therefore literally conveys the idea of “not known” or “without knowledge.”
Examples:
- He describes himself as an agnostic because he does not believe there is enough evidence to know whether God exists.
- Her position is agnostic rather than atheistic: she neither affirms nor denies the existence of a deity.
- Derived from the Greek agnōstos, meaning “unknown,” the word agnostic originally emphasised the limits of human knowledge.
