adjective
gnōstos
Strong’sG1110
known, an acquaintance
stem gnōst-15 times in the New Testamentin 4 of 27 books5 of 26 forms occur
What it means
A plain-English reading of the word, with the lexicons it draws on — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, and Liddell-Scott-Jones — right below it, in full.
AI Summary
Known, in the sense of being a matter of knowledge, familiar, or evident: something that can be perceived or recognized as fact, such as a known event, a notable sign, or a knowable truth 1234. Used as a neuter substantive, it can mean "the known thing" or "what is known" (of God) 1. It is also used adverbially to mean "clearly" 3, and, less commonly, of something merely knowable rather than actually known 3.
Used in the plural as a substantive, it means acquaintance(s) or friend(s) — people who are known to someone, as opposed to strangers 1234.
Sources: 1 Abbott-Smith 2 Strong's 3 LSJ 4 Dodson. Condensed by anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 on 2026-09-23 — it may still misstate what these say; check them yourself if it matters to you.
The lexicons it was drawn from, in full:
Abbott-Smith — the 1922 lexicon entry, in full
γνωστός, -ή, -όν, later form of γνωστός
(< γιγνώσκω), [in LXX for various parts of ידע;]
G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, 1922 — public domain. References open in the reader.
Strong’s G1110 — the 1890 definition, and where the word comes from
Saidgnoce-tos'
well-known
Fromfrom G1097;
King Jamesacquaintance, (which may be) known, notable.
James Strong, Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1890 — public domain. The numbers in it link to the entries here.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — the classical dictionary this word appears in
collateral form of γνωτός (which see), known, Refs 5th c.BC+; γνωστόν, τό, common knowledge, τινός Refs 4th c.AD+ adverb -τῶς clearly, LXX
2 knowable, Refs 4th c.BC+; γνωστὰ σαρκός bodily symptoms (of anger), Refs 1st c.BC+
II plural, as substantive, ={γνώριμοι}, notables, LXX+2nd c.AD+; acquaintance, friend, NT
III active, knowing, uncertain in LXX+1st c.AD+
H. G. Liddell, R. Scott, H. S. Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (9th ed., 1925–1940) — digitised by the Perseus Digital Library and corrected and expanded by Tyndale House, Cambridge, via STEPBible-Data's TFLSJ table, CC BY 4.0. Covers all of Greek literature, not just the Bible.
Translated as
Every occurrence, sorted by the English it was actually given — the evidence for what the word means, not a gloss of it.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain — berean.bible.
Biblang forms
Every form this word takes in Biblang, with the Greek it corresponds to and how often the New Testament uses it.
| Job in the sentence case | masculine singular | feminine singular | neuter singular | masculine plural | feminine plural | neuter plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subject nominative | gnōstos2×γνωστὸς | gnōstas | gnōstem10×γνωστὸν | gnōstois1×γνωστοὶ | gnōstais | gnōsteim1×γνωστὰ |
| object accusative | gnōston | gnōstan | gnōstoin | gnōstain | ||
| direct address vocative | gnōstor | gnōstar | gnōstoir | gnōstair | ||
| of, belonging to genitive | gnōstou | gnōstau | gnōsteu | gnōstoiu | gnōstaiu | gnōsteiu |
| to, for dative | gnōsto | gnōsta | gnōste | gnōstoi1×γνωστοῖς | gnōstai | gnōstei |
Tinted cells are forms the New Testament never uses, so there is no Greek to show against them — but they are still correct Biblang, built from the slots below like any other.
Why these forms, and no others — the slots that make them
gnōst is this word in every one of its forms. The slots after it make all the rest.
same in every form varies — every value shown
Where it appears
Every verse the word appears in, filed under the form it takes there.
15 occurrences, every one of them listed
gnōstos“known”subjectnominative singular2×
John 18:15… mathētos. tos de mathētos ekeinos ate gnōstos to archierevo kai suneiserchata to Iēso …… following Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he also …
John 18:16… oun tos mathētos tos allosos tos gnōstos tou archierevou kai legata ta thurōra …… door. Then the disciple who was known to the high priest went out …
gnōstem“known”subject or objectdirect singular10×
Acts 1:19kai gnōstem geneta pantoi toi katoikarōntoi Ierousalēm, hōste …This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem …
Acts 2:14… tois katoikarōntoir Ierousalēm pantoir, houtem vi gnōstem atōr kai enōtizevar teim rēmeim mu.… dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen carefully to …
Acts 4:10gnōstem atōr pantoi vi kai panto to …then let this be known to all of you and to …
Acts 4:16“notable”… toi anthrōpoi houtoi? hoti men gar gnōstem sēmem genatē dia autoiu pantoi toi …… do with these men?” they asked. “It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we …
Acts 9:42gnōstem de geneta kata holau tau Ioppau, …This became known all over Joppa, and many people …
Acts 13:38gnōstem oun atōr vi, androir adelfoir, hoti …Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus …
Acts 19:17houtem de geneta gnōstem pantoi Ioudaioi tē kai Hellēnoi toi …This became known to all the Jews and Greeks …
Acts 28:22… peri men gar tau hairesiau houtau gnōstem ni atō hoti pantachou antilegotō.… your views worth hearing, because we know that people everywhere are speaking against …
Acts 28:28“known”gnōstem oun atōr vi hoti tei ethnei …Be advised, therefore, that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they …
Romans 1:19dioti tem gnōstem tou theou fanerem atō en autoi, …For what may be known about God is plain to them …
gnōstois“acquaintances”subjectnominative plural1×
Luke 23:49“acquaintances”stēalelē de pantois tois gnōstois auto makrothen, kai gunaikais tais sunakoloutharōntais …But all those who knew Jesus, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these …
gnōstoi“acquaintances”to, fordative plural1×
Luke 2:44“acquaintances”… auton en toi sungenoi kai toi gnōstoi,… look for Him among their relatives and friends.
gnōsteim“known”subject or objectdirect plural1×
Acts 15:18gnōsteim apo aiōnou.that have been known for ages.’