Other forms: agnostics
An agnostic is a person who thinks it cannot be known whether a god exists. A committed agnostic, agnostic about it, agnostic rather than atheist.
The claim is about knowledge rather than belief, which is why agnostic and atheist are not alternatives — a person can be both. Huxley coined the word in 1870 for exactly that position. In technology, agnostic means indifferent to the platform: a device-agnostic design works anywhere.
1nounagnosticA person who thinks it cannot be known whether a god exists.
“He was raised a Catholic but became an agnostic at university.”
2adjectiveindifferentIndifferent to the platform or system.
“The software is platform agnostic, so it works equally well on Windows and Mac.”
agnostic is a position on knowledge.
Coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1870, from Greek a-, not, plus gnostos, known. Diagnosis and know come from the same knowing.
Proto-Indo-European
*ǵneh₃-
Ancient Greek
ἄγνωστος
English, today
agnostic
Built from
From Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος. coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1870. Either from Ancient Greek ἄγνωστος (“ignorant, not knowing”), or from a- + Gnostic, deriving (either way) from Ancient Greek ἀ- (“not”) + γιγνώσκω (“I know”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Belief & Ritual