cognitive
Americanadjective
-
of or relating to cognition; concerned with the act or process of knowing, perceiving, etc. .
cognitive development;
cognitive functioning.
-
of or relating to the mental processes of perception, memory, judgment, and reasoning, as contrasted with emotional and volitional processes.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cognitive
First recorded in 1580–90; from Medieval Latin cognitīvus, equivalent to Latin cognit(us) “learned, known” ( see cognition) + -īvus -ive
Explanation
If it's related to thinking, it's considered cognitive. Anxious parents might defend using flashcards with toddlers as "nurturing their cognitive development." The adjective, cognitive, comes from the Latin cognoscere "to get to know" and refers to the ability of the brain to think and reason as opposed to feel. A child's cognitive development is the growth in his or her ability to think and solve problems. Many English words that involve knowing and knowledge have cogn- in them such as cognizant "aware of" and recognize "to know someone in the present because you knew them from the past."
Vocabulary lists containing cognitive
In the Know: Cogn, Conn
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Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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Vocabulary from "There Will Never Be an Age of Artificial Intimacy," by Sherry Turkle
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Karen Konkoly, the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in Paller's Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, said one of the biggest surprises was how strongly the cues influenced dreams even when participants were not lucid.
From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2026
Cognitive diversity stems more from differences in education, career paths, political views, problem-solving styles and personality.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025
Cognitive diversity is often taken to mean that everyone should be invited to every meeting in the name of inclusion, and that every opinion deserves equal airtime.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 26, 2025
The term "SuperAger" was first introduced by Dr. M. Marsel Mesulam, founder of the Mesulam Center for Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease at Northwestern, in the late 1990s.
From Science Daily • Oct. 19, 2025
The next chapter takes a peek behind the curtain of the ages, examining what life was like in the millennia separating the Cognitive Revolution from the Agricultural Revolution.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
