''Terra incognita'' or ''terra ignota'' (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

"unknown land"; ''incognita'' is stressed on its second

syllable A syllable is a basic unit of organization within a sequence of speech sounds, such as within a word, typically defined by linguists as a ''nucleus'' (most often a vowel) with optional sounds before or after that nucleus (''margins'', which are ...

in Latin, but with variation in pronunciation in English) is a term used in

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

for regions that have not been mapped or documented. The expression is believed to be first seen in

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

's ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' c. 150. The term was reintroduced in the 15th century from the rediscovery of Ptolemy's work during the

Age of Discovery The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

. The equivalent on French maps would be ''terres inconnues'' (plural form), and some English maps may show ''Parts Unknown''. Similarly, uncharted or unknown seas would be labeled ''mare incognitum'', Latin for "unknown sea".

Details

Popular belief holds that cartographers used to label such regions with " Here be dragons". Although cartographers did claim that fantastic beasts (including large serpents) existed in remote corners of the world and depicted such as decoration on their maps, only one known surviving map, the Hunt–Lenox Globe, in the collection of the

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

, actually says "Here are dragons" (using the

form ''HIC SVNT DRACONES''). Nonetheless, ancient Roman and Medieval cartographers used the phrase ''HIC SVNT LEONES'' ("Here are lions") when denoting unknown territories on maps. Alternatively, ''terra incognita'' may refer to the hypothesized continent Terra Australis Incognita ("The unknown land of the South"), as seen in the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum map by

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer from Antwerp in the Spanish Netherlands. He is recognized as the creator of the list of atlases, first modern ...

(1570). During the 19th century, ''terra incognita'' disappeared from maps. Both the coastlines and the inner parts of the continents became fully explored, even prior to the advent of

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

and

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell im ...

in the 20th century; however, the bottoms of oceans remain mostly unmapped, as do many other land surfaces in the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

, and the phrase is now used

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

ically to describe any unexplored subject or field of research. For example, only 40% of the surface of Neptune's Moon Triton has been mapped with the remainder being ''terra incognita''.

Etymology

* ''Terra'': Latin for "earth" or "land". Related English words include '' terrestrial'', ''

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

'', and ''

terrain Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

''. * ''Incognita'': from Latin ''cognoscere'', "to know, be acquainted with" (negated by the prefix ''in-''), which is related to English ''know'' and Greek γνῶσις ('' gnosis'', "knowledge"). Related English words include '' agnostic'', ''

cognition Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

'', and ''

gnosticism Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: , Romanization of Ancient Greek, romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: Help:IPA/Greek, �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced ...

''.

Notes

References

Guide to the Research Collections
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051012132013/http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb/williams/williams/ , date=12 October 2005 . pp. 207–208.
New York Public Library
Cartography Latin words and phrases

Details

Etymology

See also

Notes

References