well-knownadj.n.

?a1425 (?1373) Lelamour Herbal (1938) f. 11^v (MED) Centory is ij maner, the more and þe lasse; and for the more is not well knowen we takyn þe lasse, whiche is drye.

c1449 J. Paston in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) I. 54 He is well knowe in London.

1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) i. l. 11 It is weyle knawyne on mony diuers syde, How thai haff wrocht in-to thar mychty pryde.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. vii. sig. E7 He by enquirie gotte to the wel-knowne house of Kalander.

1621 R. Montagu Diatribæ Hist. Tithes 19 The well-knowne and avowable practice of the Ancients.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 271 The fruitful Isle of Crete well known to Fame.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 127. ⁋3 It is well known we have not had a more moderate Summer these many Years.

1780 Mirror No. 87 She instanced the well-known lines of Shakespeare.

1837 Penny Cycl. IX. 163/1 Dry Rot, a well-known disease affecting timber.

1871 B. Jowett tr. Plato Dialogues I. 44 His father being a very well-known man.

1907 J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 95 Any well-known brand [of Bromide paper].

1954 Househ. Guide & Almanac (News of World) 48/2 A well-known public figure.

2012 N.Y. Times Mag. 19 Aug. 12/2 This kind of slowed, irregular heart rate was an unusual but well-known complication of early Lyme disease.

1568 W. Turner Herbal iii. 8 Medewurte is an herbe well knowen unto all men.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene v. viii. sig. T2^v The dreadfull sight did them so sore affray, That their well knowen courses they forwent. View more context for this quotation

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 108 The Stallion snuffs the well-known Scent afar. View more context for this quotation

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 4. ⁋2 There are..many to whom my Person is as well known as that of their nearest Relations.

1796 F. Burney Camilla V. x. xii. 500 A well-known voice reached her ears.

1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel iv. xxii. 113 The boy..Implored for aid each well-known face.

1867 W. Morris Life & Death of Jason ii. 15 So lightly through the well-known woods he passed.

1925 ‘Kimbo’ Trop. Tales 10 Potts heard himself hailed by the well-known voice of his late father.

2005 L. A. Urrea Hummingbird's Daughter xx. 173 He..picked up the book, smiled at it once as if it were a well-known friend, and handed it to her.

1833 Athenæum 15 June 385/1 If the unheeded and the unknown would only give themselves as much trouble as the heeded and the well known, they would not have cause to complain of neglect.

1896 Spectator 26 Dec. 938/1 The effectiveness of this kind of work is increased when it is not so much the great and the well-known who are treated in this minute, microscopic way.

1965 Billboard 6 Mar. 46/3 The March 8 showing..will intersperse guest appearances by the well-known and the upcoming.

2001 T. Bruce New Thought Police (2003) ii. 52 The symptoms [of groupthink] are played out publicly by the Left in its attacks on the well-known who step out of line.

1836 Southern Agriculturist July 354 Is it [sc. agricultural knowledge] not regarded as the merest matter of common place industry and effort,..which needs..no reflection to devise new improvements, or convert into proper channels, the well known and the old?

1890 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 26 158/2 It is always best to begin with the well-known, and proceed to the less known or altogether unknown.

1948 L. Spitzer Linguistics & Literary Hist. i. 17 From the well known emerges the shape of the unknown.

2001 Amer. Alpine Jrnl. 43 116 Only a small group of climbing rangers have strayed from the well-known to explore the unknown.

1917 Printers' Ink 6 Dec. 33/1 There are still, though, in most industries, the same staid old houses which have leaned on..the well-knownness of their trademarks, to carry them through to large businesses.

1950 Los Angeles Times 9 Apr. ii. 11/1 Sheer ability isn't going to be the only facet. We're going to consider durability, too,..also well-knownness.

2005 E. Louw Media & Polit. Process viii. 173 Actors and musicians cash in on well knownness to move into politics.