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definitions

cognate

[kog-neyt]
See more synonyms for cognate on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. related by birth; of the same parentage, descent, etc.
  2. Linguistics. descended from the same language or form: such cognate languages as French and Spanish.
  3. allied or similar in nature or quality.
noun
  1. a person or thing cognate with another.
  2. a cognate word: The English word cold is a cognate of German kalt.

Origin of cognate

1635–45; < Latin cognātus, equivalent to co- co- + -gnātus (past participle of gnāscī, nāscī to be born)
Related formscog·nate·ness, nouncog·nat·ic [kog-nat-ik] /kɒgˈnæt ɪk/, adjectivenon·cog·nate, adjective, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cognate

agnate, like, generic, universal, kindred, same, general, incident, affiliated, akin, allied, analogous, comparable, connected, related, similar, connate, connatural, consanguine

Examples from the Web for cognate

Contemporary Examples of cognate

  • However, the Old English "hund" later became "hound" but eventually was replaced by "dog," not a cognate.

    The Daily Beast logo
    How Old is the Illiad?

    Justin Green

    March 1, 2013

Historical Examples of cognate

  • The young men who figure at embassies and missions are all "cognate numbers."

    The Fortunes Of Glencore

    Charles James Lever

  • The adverbial sense to be wholly transferred to the cognate word.

    The Verbalist

    Thomas Embly Osmun, (AKA Alfred Ayres)

  • The first syllable is cognate with mare and the second means servant.

    The Romance of Names

    Ernest Weekley

  • Richier, has generally been absorbed by the cognate Richard.

    The Romance of Names

    Ernest Weekley

  • A glade or valley in the wood was called a Dean, Dene, Denne, cognate with den.

    The Romance of Names

    Ernest Weekley

British Dictionary definitions for cognate

cognate

adjective
  1. akin; relatedcognate languages
  2. related by blood or descended from a common maternal ancestorCompare agnate
  3. cognate object grammar a noun functioning as the object of a verb to which it is etymologically related, as in think a thought or sing a song
noun
  1. something that is cognate with something else
Derived Formscognately, adverbcognateness, nouncognation, noun

Word Origin for cognate

C17: from Latin cognātus, from co- same + gnātus born, variant of nātus, past participle of nāscī to be born
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cognate
adj.

1640s, from Latin cognatus "of common descent," from com- "together" (see co-) + gnatus, past participle of gnasci, older form of nasci "to be born" (see genus). Words that are cognates are cousins, not siblings. As a noun, from 1754.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper