cognate

Alternative forms

• cogn. (abbreviation)

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cognātus (“related by blood”), from nātus (“born”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒɡ.neɪt/, IPA^(key): /ˈkɒɡ.nɨt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

cognate (not comparable)

1. Allied by blood; kindred by birth; specifically (law) related on the mother's side.
2. Of the same or a similar nature; of the same family; proceeding from the same stock or root; allied; kindred.
3. (linguistics) Descended from the same source lexeme of an ancestor language.

   English mother is cognate with Greek μητέρα (mitéra), German Mutter, Russian мать (matʹ) and Persian مادر‎ (madar).

   In English, queen is cognate with quean, both of which are cognate with Russian жена́ (žená), Icelandic kona and Irish bean.

   English shirt is cognate with English skirt, short, and curt and with German kurz and French court ; all of these are descended from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)ker-, meaning ‘to cut’.

Noun

cognate (plural cognates)

1. One of a number of things allied in origin or nature.
2. (law, dated) One who is related to another on the female side.
3. (law, dated) One who is related to another, both having descended from a common ancestor through legal marriages.
4. (linguistics) A word either descended from the same base word of the same ancestor language as the given word, or strongly believed to be a regular reflex of the same reconstructed root of proto-language as the given word.

   English mother is a cognate of Greek μητέρα (mitéra), German Mutter, Russian мать (matʹ) and Persian مادر‎ (mâdar).

   English queen and quean, Russian жена́ (žená), Icelandic kona and Irish bean are all cognates.

See also

• derivation
• etymology
• etymon
• root
• false friend
• agnate

Anagrams

• coagent

Noun

cognate f

1. plural of cognata

Adjective

cognāte

1. vocative masculine singular of cognātus