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American Heritage Dictionary reads:

incognita

  • adv & adj, with one’s identity disguised or concealed. Used of a woman;
  • n, A woman or girl whose identity is disguised or concealed.

So, is it correct to say “Giselle Regan, an American reporter, went in incognita and used hidden cameras”?

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  • It's an adjective, so you would probably say "she went incognita", not "in incognita"
    – user10893
    Commented Aug 11, 2012 at 23:17
  • 4
    @simchona Perhaps this is the quasi-phrasal verb, to go in?
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Aug 11, 2012 at 23:29

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If you read incognita as disguised, which you should, then the sentence reads:

  • Giselle Regan, an American reporter, went in disguised and used hidden cameras.

If that is the intended meaning, then your proofreading question is fine.

The OED gives:

A. adj. Of a female: Unknown or disguised; having one’s identity concealed or unavowed.

B. sb. 1. An unknown or disguised woman or girl; one whose identity is not made known. In 18th c. used often of a sweetheart.

2. Unknown or unavowed character or position (of a woman).

You may recognize this from the famous terra incognita. This is the same word as incognito, just put into the feminine form. The original pronunciation puts the stress on the second syllable, although you will often now hear it stressed on the penult.

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  • 2
    incognito/incognita is Italian, while incognitus/incognita/incognitum was Latin.
    – Henry
    Commented Aug 11, 2012 at 23:49
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    It was more for the benfit of other readers as terra incognita was a Latin phrase and you switched languages mid-sentence.
    – Henry
    Commented Aug 12, 2012 at 0:46

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