cognoscente

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word cognoscente. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word cognoscente, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say cognoscente in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word cognoscente you have here. The definition of the word cognoscente will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofcognoscente, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

WOTD – 27 November 2008

Alternative forms

Etymology

From obsolete Italian cognoscente (modern Italian conoscente) from Latin cognōscere (“to know”).

Pronunciation

Noun

cognoscente (plural cognoscenti)

  1. (often in the plural) Someone possessing superior or specialized knowledge in a particular field.
    Synonyms: connoisseur, maven
    • 1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XX, in Middlemarch , volume II, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book II:
      He is the painter who has been held to combine the most complete grace of form with sublimity of expression. Such at least I have gathered to be the opinion of cognoscenti.
    • 1904 November, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], Cabbages and Kings, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co.:
      He was a brilliant cosmopolite and a cognoscente of high rank; but, after all, he was of the same race and blood and instinct as this people.
    • 1998, Marc J. Seifer, chapter 42, in Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius, →ISBN, page 397:
      At night, as creative author, the cognoscente sketched out the first draft of his expanded autobiography.
    • 2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 117:
      In the latter case — if only a handful of people knew the term — it would have been pretty pointless for Cleland to name his protagonist Fanny when practically nobody was likely to get the joke, not even cognoscenti such as Grose.
    • 2018 August 19, Sean O’Hagan, quoting Irvine Welsh, “Irvine Welsh: ‘I thought Trainspotting would be a cult book, but not generation-defining’”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:
      The initial buzz it generated was among a certain section of the London cultural cognoscenti, the ex-punk crowd. They got it immediately.
    • 2019 May 11, Farah Nayeri, “Venice Biennale’s Top Prize Goes to Lithuania”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:
      The Biennale can be daunting for those who are not art cognoscenti or participants in the art world.
    • 2020 December 30, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Cut HS2 eastern leg, says NIC?”, in Rail, page 3:
      And by the way, yes I AM inventing the HS2E acronym, because few outside the HS2 cognoscenti understand all that 'Phase' stuff!

Translations

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /koɲ.ɲoʃˈʃɛn.te/
  • Rhymes: -ɛnte
  • Hyphenation: co‧gno‧scèn‧te

Participle

cognoscente (plural cognoscenti)

  1. (obsolete) present participle of cognoscere

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): (Spain) /koɡnosˈθente/
  • IPA(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /koɡnoˈsente/
  • Rhymes: -ente
  • Syllabification: cog‧nos‧cen‧te

Adjective

cognoscente m or f (masculine and feminine plural cognoscentes)

  1. cognitive

Further reading

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia