terra incognita

noun

ter·​ra in·​cog·​ni·​ta ˈter-ə-ˌin-ˌkäg-ˈnē-tə  -in-ˈkäg-nə-tə 

plural terrae incognitae ˈter-ˌī-ˌin-ˌkäg-ˈnē-ˌtī 

-in-ˈkäg-nə-ˌtī

: unknown territory : an unexplored country or field of knowledge

Did you know?

When Roman mapmakers drew a land area that no one had yet explored, they often labeled it "Terra Incognita"—that is, "Unknown Territory"—and the term continued to be used for centuries afterward. When Columbus and his successors first crossed the Atlantic, they entered upon terra incognita, a land that came to be called the "New World". But the term is just as useful for mental exploration. For most of us, subjects such as particle physics, French 17th-century drama, and soil mechanics are terra incognita, and we can only hope to live long enough to be able to explore some of them someday.

Example Sentences

the terra incognita beyond those mountains

Recent Examples on the Web

Common ground on policy is not terra incognita. —Editorial Board New York Times, Star Tribune, 14 Dec. 2020

Before Voyagers 1 and 2, the moons of Jupiter and Saturn were little known, and the moons of Uranus and Neptune were completely terra incognita. —Corey S. Powell, Discover Magazine, 31 Dec. 2018

None of this is terra incognita for Hollywood. —Judy Berman, Time, 11 Mar. 2022

When curator Brian Piper of the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) began to study the work of early Black commercial photographers in the 2010s, the subject was largely terra incognita. —Judith H. Dobrzynski, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2022

The inner earth has been terra incognita, until now. —Discover Magazine, 18 July 2011

So even though the Pliocene gives us some general sense of the world to come, we may well be headed for terra incognita, climatologically speaking. —Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 29 Jan. 2015

California was terra incognita to the tight fraternity of fliers on the East Coast and in Europe. —Patt Morrisoncolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2023

The unknown in a life is still a gigantic terra incognita toward which every soul can make its pilgrimage. —Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 1 Jan. 2023

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Word History

Etymology

Latin

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined above