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
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
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In the Know: Cogn, Conn
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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.
The second area is who captures value from the cognitive layer.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
Without careful guardrails in place, children tend to use the platforms as shortcuts to answers, bypassing the messy, difficult cognitive processes that are essential for learning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
“Those concerns are magnified for our children whose brains are just forming, and their cognitive abilities are still developing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Populations with these characteristics have historically been underrepresented in brain imaging studies, making the research an opportunity to examine cognitive aging across a broader range of social, educational, and geographic backgrounds.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
We were required to write a research paper for Psychology and I chose it as my subject, then used the paper as an excuse to interrogate every neuroscientist and cognitive specialist at the university.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
