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.
"We found that the brain is flexible because it can reuse components of cognition in many different tasks. By snapping together these 'cognitive Legos,' the brain is able to build new tasks."
From Science Daily • Nov. 28, 2025
The researchers think that this difference might have to do with the way the brain learns relationships between memories and ideas, and stores this information in so called 'cognitive maps'.
From Science Daily • Oct. 9, 2023
Spatial firing is often considered to be one specific example of a ‘cognitive map’—a general representation of relationships between cognitive entities7, 8, 11.
From Nature • Mar. 28, 2017
This mental representation was termed a ‘cognitive map’, which Tolman hypothesized as the primary means through which mammals – rats and humans alike – learned about and navigated through spatial environments.
From Scientific American • Jun. 3, 2013
In saying that the smell is finally experienced as meaning gratification ... we retrospectively attribute intellectual force and function to the smell—and this is what is signified by 'cognitive.'
From John Dewey's logical theory by Howard, Delton Thomas
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.
