Incognito

How to spell incognito

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce incognito

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does incognito mean?

1. adverbIn a way that conceals one's true identity, usually under a false or assumed name.
2. adjectiveHaving one's identity deliberately kept hidden or disguised.

Incognito in a sentence

• adverb

  The author chose to travel incognito to avoid being recognised at the airport.

• adjective

  The visiting minister kept the trip incognito for security reasons.

• adverb

  The celebrity checked into the hotel incognito under a borrowed name.

• adjective

  A private browsing tab lets you stay incognito on shared computers.

Where does incognito come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This word travelled into English from Italian incognito, which in turn rests on the Latin incognitus, meaning simply 'unknown' or 'not recognised'. That Latin form is built from the negative prefix in- ('not') and cognitus, the past participle of cognoscere, 'to get to know' or 'to recognise'. English adopted it in the middle of the 1600s, originally to describe a person, often a noble or a diplomat, who moved about under a concealed identity to avoid the duties or attention attached to their real name. The same cognoscere root still shows up in everyday relatives such as 'recognise', 'cognition' and 'incognizant', which is a useful memory hook: the silent-feeling 'cogn' in the middle is exactly the 'know' element, and the word ends in the Italian -o rather than an English ending.

How the word is built

• in- (not)
• cognit (from Latin cognitus: known)
• -o (Italian adjectival/adverbial ending)