cognate
Americanadjective
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related by birth; of the same parentage, descent, etc.
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Linguistics. descended from the same language or form.
such cognate languages as French and Spanish.
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allied or similar in nature or quality.
noun
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a person or thing cognate with another.
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a cognate word.
The English word cold is a cognate of German kalt.
adjective
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akin; related
cognate languages
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related by blood or descended from a common maternal ancestor Compare agnate
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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
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cognate
1635–45; < Latin cognātus, equivalent to co- co- + -gnātus (past participle of gnāscī, nāscī to be born)
Explanation
When you're learning a new language, a cognate is an easy word to remember because it looks and means the same thing as a word you already know. For example, gratitude in English means the same as gratitud in Spanish. Just as words that are cognates have a shared origin — like gratitude and gratitud both coming from the Latin word gratitudo, meaning "thankfulness" — people can be cognates based on their shared blood. For example, you and your sister are cognates of your parents. You probably even look alike, just like word cognates. The adjective form of cognate can describe blood relations or anyone whose ancestors spoke the same language.
Vocabulary lists containing cognate
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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That’s So Meta: Words About Words
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Write Makes Might: Words About Written Language
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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.
For 40 years he has been pursuing his ideal, the last ten as president of Dropsie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learning.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sometimes the Cognate Accusative is not of kindred etymology, but merely of kindred meaning; as,— stadium currit, he runs a race; Olympia vincit, he wins an Olympic victory.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
Cognate with cadmia and pyrites is a compound which the Noricians and Rhetians call zincum.
From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius
Cognate words in English are smother and small, which come from the same root. gingerly.
From Stories from Tagore by Tagore, Rabindranath
Cognate is , "to take care," "to guard oneself," specially of the conflict with the higher powers of life, in the viii. semet custodivit ah aliqua re, et absolute timuit coluitque Deum, pius fuit.
From Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions, Vol. 1 by Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm
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.
