DEFINITIONS CONTINUED NOUN 1. one who knows nothing; an ignorant person; a fool 2. one who holds that nothing can be known; as agnostic 3. a member of a U.S. political party, also called the American party, that was prominent during the years 1853–56; so named because, having been originally organized as a secret society, its members, to preserve this character, professed to outsiders complete ignorance regarding it; the chief principle of the party was that none but native citizens should be permitted to share in the government; it disappeared around 1859 CLICK HERE FOR KEY TO SOURCES from know (vb.) + nothing a 1825 - The Vocabulary of East Anglia, Robert Forby (1830); "Know-nothing, utterly ignorant 'A poor know-nothing creature' " From: The Red Rover: A Tale (1827)
By James Fenimore Cooper Printed 1837 Chapter II. P. 21
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