Cognoscenti Definition & Meaning

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Cognoscente and connoisseur are more than synonyms; they're also linguistic cousins. Both terms descend from the Latin verb cognōscere, meaning "to know," and they're not alone. You might guess that cognizance and cognition are members of the cognōscere clan. Do you also recognize a family resemblance in recognize? Can you see through the disguise of incognito? Did you have a premonition that we would mention precognition? Cognoscente itself came to English by way of Italian and has been a part of the language since the late 1700s.

Examples of cognoscente in a Sentence

a cognoscente of medieval painting cognoscenti in the art world knew that most of the works being auctioned off were second-rate stuff

Recent Examples on the Web Covington's cognoscente, epicures, glitterati, and connoisseurs all met at Grand Tasting 2018, part of the week-long celebration A Taste of Covington sponsored by the Covington Business Association. — Ann Benoit, NOLA.com, 6 May 2018

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