A term coined by Prof
Preserved but no longer current.
Huxley in 1869 (with allusion to St. Paul's mention of an altar to "the Unknown God") to indicate the mental attitude of those who withhold their assent from whatever is incapable of proof, such as an unseen world, a First Cause, etc. Agnostics neither dogmatically accept nor reject such matters, but simply say Agnosco — I do not know — they are not capable of proof, Q?, THEIST.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “A term coined by Prof” mean?
Huxley in 1869 (with allusion to St. Paul's mention of an altar to "the Unknown God") to indicate the mental attitude of those who withhold their assent from whatever is incapable of proof, such as an unseen world, a First Cause, etc. Agnostics neither dogmatically accept nor reject such matters, but simply say Agnosco — I do not know — they are not capable of proof, Q?, THEIST.
Is “A term coined by Prof” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.