# agnostic

Pronunciation: say "ag-NOS-tik" US /æɡˈnɑstɪk/, UK /aɡˈnɒstɪk/, AUS /æɡˈnɔstɪk/

## Adjective

1. Holding or relating to the view that the existence of God or any deity is unknown or cannot be proven.
   - Simple: Not sure whether God exists, or believing no one can know. To do with this belief.
   - _After years of quiet doubt, he remained agnostic about the existence of any deity._
   - _My grandfather grew agnostic in his forties, though he still went to church at Christmas._
3. Designed to operate without depending on the specific type of components, platform, or input it interacts with.
   - Simple: Built to work with many kinds of parts or systems, not just one.
   - _The protocol is agnostic to the underlying transport layer._
   - _Good design keeps the service agnostic about which database stores its data._
4. Having no firmly held opinions about a particular matter or question. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Not having a strong opinion about something.
   - _The committee remained agnostic about which software vendor to choose._
   - _He's politically agnostic, refusing to commit to either party._

## Noun

2. A person who holds that the existence of a deity is unknown or cannot be proven.
   - Simple: A person who is not sure whether God or any god exists.
   - _The debate paired a devout believer with a thoughtful agnostic._
   - _Several agnostics in the group doubted the question could ever be settled._

## Origin

Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word in 1869. His source was either ágnōstos, an Ancient Greek word meaning "ignorant, not knowing," or the combination of a- and Gnostic. Both routes lead back to the Greek prefix a- ("not") joined to gignṓskō ("I know").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/agnostic (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).