of unknown origin
idiom
—used to say that the source or cause of something is not known
a disease of unknown origin
Examples of of unknown origin in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There are more leftover donuts from Valentine’s Day, these ones of unknown origin.
—
Bon Appétit Contributor, Bon Appétit, 7 Mar. 2024
While Turner recorded, Dawley sang a song of unknown origin, passed down through the generations by her ancestors.
—Joshua Kagavi, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024
At least one ship was damaged by a floating mine of unknown origin off the coast of Romania late last year.
—Tim Lister and Victoria Butenko, CNN, 14 Feb. 2024
At least one other bank has also left customers scrambling to withdraw their money after an outage of unknown origin.
—Rob Wile, NBC News, 12 Aug. 2023
As should be expected, there is an equally detailed set of documents, produced by the U.F.O. researchers Jacques Vallée and Richard Haines, that suggest the image is of a real craft of unknown origin.
—Chris Wiley, The New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2023
The engine is a Subaru flat-four of unknown origin—Hall reportedly pulled it from a junkyard—good for approximately 78 horsepower.
—Brendan McAleer, Car and Driver, 30 July 2023
In early March, around the time of the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the couple said they were illegally detained on an island outside Shanghai by enforcers of unknown origin.
—Selina Wang, CNN, 21 Apr. 2023
Bon Appétit Contributor, Bon Appétit, 7 Mar. 2024
While Turner recorded, Dawley sang a song of unknown origin, passed down through the generations by her ancestors.
—Joshua Kagavi, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024
At least one ship was damaged by a floating mine of unknown origin off the coast of Romania late last year.
—Tim Lister and Victoria Butenko, CNN, 14 Feb. 2024
At least one other bank has also left customers scrambling to withdraw their money after an outage of unknown origin.
—Rob Wile, NBC News, 12 Aug. 2023
As should be expected, there is an equally detailed set of documents, produced by the U.F.O. researchers Jacques Vallée and Richard Haines, that suggest the image is of a real craft of unknown origin.
—Chris Wiley, The New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2023
The engine is a Subaru flat-four of unknown origin—Hall reportedly pulled it from a junkyard—good for approximately 78 horsepower.
—Brendan McAleer, Car and Driver, 30 July 2023
In early March, around the time of the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the couple said they were illegally detained on an island outside Shanghai by enforcers of unknown origin.
—Selina Wang, CNN, 21 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'of unknown origin.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near of unknown origin
Cite this Entry
“Of unknown origin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/of%20unknown%20origin. Accessed 27 Apr. 2024.
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