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The story of "cognate" is all relative: that is, it's all about relatives. Cognate words share an ancestor, like "allude" and "prelude" (which both trace to the Latin root ludere) and the English "brother" and the German Bruder (which are both related to the Greek phrater). Cognate languages, like French, Spanish, and Italian, descend from the same ancestral language. People related through a common ancestor are cognate, and groups of people, such as tribes, can be cognate to one another. "Cognate" also describes things related in a more figurative way, as in "cognate developments," "cognate disciplines," or "cognate problems." "Cognate" itself comes from the Latin cognatus which traces to Latin nasci meaning "to be born." Some words cognate to "cognate" include "innate," "nascent," "native," and "Renaissance."
Examples of cognate in a Sentence
John Crowley, Harper's Magazine, 8 Dec. 2021
The aspiring actress Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) is cognate with the earlier film’s domineering, petulant, and voice-challenged silent-film diva Lina Lamont (who, in effect, gets a backstory here).
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2022
Hence his own always dubious business celebrity became cognate with the mantra of Making America Great Again.
—Kyle Edward Williams, The New Republic, 9 Dec. 2020
In their millenarian ardor and inflexible support for Israel, the neocons find themselves in a position precisely cognate to evangelical Christians—both groups of true believers trying to enact their vision through an apostate.
—Jacob Heilbrunn, The New Republic, 23 Jan. 2020
Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 12 June 2025
Among their main fixations is modern Turkish, a language made up of flashy imports—French and English cognates, a new alphabet—and antique idioms.
—Merve Emre, The New Yorker, 8 Oct. 2024
The word and the concept, as well as its cognate, liberty, have been coopted by Republicans since Ronald Reagan was a candidate for president.
—Richard Stengel, TIME, 17 Aug. 2024
Ho's research, however, has shown yakamein (or its cognates like yock, yockamin, yet quo mein, or yet ca mein) on Chinese restaurant menus from New York, California, Las Vegas and Virginia, some of which predate the 1918 menu.
—Biju Sukumaran, Chron, 25 Apr. 2023
But the last word in his name is a cognate for the Chinese word for death, which bothers more superstitious clientele.
—Frank Shyong, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2023
The hackers sent him messages in an idiosyncratic English sprinkled with French and Italian cognates, and the style varied over time.
—David D. Kirkpatrick, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
Present, whose earthly cognate died nearly 200 years ago, is facing the prospect of retirement.
—Kyle Smith, WSJ, 10 Nov. 2022
With its Latin underpinnings, both English and Spanish share many cognates, words that have the same origin.
—Corbett Smith, Dallas News, 2 Apr. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Cognate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cognate. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
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