cognate

adjective cog·nate \ ˈkäg-ˌnāt \

Definition of cognate

1 :of the same or similar nature :generically alike

the cognate fields of film and theater

2 :related by blood

a family cognate with another

; also :related on the mother's side

3 a :related by descent from the same ancestral language

Spanish and French are cognate languages.

b of a word or morpheme :related by derivation, borrowing, or descent

English "eat" and German "essen" are cognate.

c of a substantive :related to a verb usually by derivation and serving as its object to reinforce the meaning (such as song in "she sang a song")

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cognately

adverb

See cognate defined for English-language learners

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Examples of cognate in a Sentence

English “eat” and German “essen” are cognate.
Spanish and French are cognate languages.

Did You Know?

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."

Origin and Etymology of cognate

Latin cognatus, from co- + gnatus, natus, past participle of nasci to be born; akin to Latin gignere to beget — more at kin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1645

See Words from the same year

cognate Synonyms

Synonyms

akin, analogous, alike, comparable, connate, correspondent, corresponding, ditto, like, matching, parallel, resemblant, resembling, similar, such, suchlike

Antonyms

different, dissimilar, diverse, unakin, unlike

Near Antonyms

disparate, distinct, distinguishable, nonequivalent, noninterchangeable; variable, varied, various, varying; imprecise, inaccurate, inexact; unconnected, unrelated

Other Language Terms

cognate, collocation, homonym

cognate

noun

Definition of cognate

:one that is cognate with another

"Eat" and "essen" are cognates.

Recent Examples of cognate from the Web

Between Catawba and English, there are few cognates, and some sounds are foreign to the English tongue.

— john paul brammer, NBC News, "Native American Two Spirit Fights to Keep Tribe’s Language Alive," 8 May 2017
Like cognates between English and Spanish (which are due in part to their common descent from the Indo-European language family), there are similarities between Miami and other Algonquian languages.

— lorraine boissoneault, Smithsonian, "How to Resurrect a Lost Language," 19 Apr. 2017
Overlooking Central Park, the restaurant was pitched as the Manhattan cognate of the French Laundry.

— gabe ulla, Town & Country, "Can Thomas Keller Turn Around Per Se?," 8 Sep. 2016

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cognate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.