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Noun: unknown quantity  ,ún'nown 'kwón-ti-tee
  1. A factor in a given situation whose bearing and importance is not apparent
    "I don't know what the new man will do; he's still an unknown quantity"
     
  2. A variable whose values are solutions of an equation
    "They worked to solve for the unknown quantity in the complex equation";
    - unknown

Derived forms: unknown quantities

Type of: factor, variable