What the chap who coined the phrase meant is sort of irrelevant. Words change their meaning all the time. Look at words like sinister, gay, wicked, the list is ended.
So what's important is the current, normal accepted meaning of the word. Even then you are struggling as different dictionaries may give you different meanings. Indeed you may get different meanings in the same dictionary. Even if you limit it to it's relgious sense you may get either of these.
1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.
There appear to be degrees of agnosticism.
Which is really rather unhelpful. Like I said earlier I have always taken it to mean the latter of the two.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/agnostic
There's an interesting word in Scots Law
Sist
1. (Scots Law) To stay, as judicial proceedings; to delay or suspend; to stop.
2. To cause to take a place, as at the bar of a court; hence, to cite; to summon; to bring into court. [Scot.]
How mad is that.
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