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cognate - 5 dictionary results

cog⋅nate

  [kog-neyt]
Use cognate in a Sentence
–adjective
1. related by birth; of the same parentage, descent, etc.
2. Linguistics. descended from the same language or form: such cognate languages as French and Spanish.
3. allied or similar in nature or quality.
–noun
4. a person or thing cognate with another.
5. a cognate word: The English word cold is a cognate of German kalt.
Origin:
1635–45; < L cognātus, equiv. to co- co- + -gnātus (ptp. of gnāscī, nāscī to be born)

Related forms:
cog⋅nate⋅ness, noun
cog⋅nat⋅ic  [kog-nat-ik] , adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cog·nate   (kŏg'nāt')   
adj.  
  1. Related by blood; having a common ancestor.
  2. Related in origin, as certain words in genetically related languages descended from the same ancestral root; for example, English name and Latin nōmen from Indo-European *n-men-.
  3. Related or analogous in nature, character, or function.
n.  
  1. One related by blood or origin with another, especially a person sharing an ancestor with another.
  2. A word related to one in another language.

[Latin cognātus : co-, co- + gnātus, born, past participle of nāscī, to be born; see genə- in Indo-European roots.]
cog·na'tion n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Cognate

Cog"nate\, a. [L. cognatus; co- + gnatus, natus, p. p. of nasci, anciently gnasci, to be born. See Nation, and cf. Connate.]

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; as, a cognate language.

Cognate

Cog"nate\, n. 1. (Law) One who is related to another on the female side. --Wharton.

2. One of a number of things allied in origin or nature; as, certain letters are cognates.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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cognate 
c.1645, from L. cognatus "of common descent," from com- "together" + gnatus, pp. of gnasci, older form of nasci "to be born." Words that are cognates are cousins, not siblings.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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