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cognate

[kog-neyt]
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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.
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noun
  1. a person or thing cognate with another.
  2. a cognate word: The English word cold is a cognate of German kalt.
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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

Examples from the Web for cognate

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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)

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

    The Romance of Names

    Ernest Weekley

  • 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

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
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noun
  1. something that is cognate with something else
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Derived Formscognately, adverbcognateness, nouncognation, noun

Word Origin

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper