Cognate

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈkÉ’É¡.neɪt/, IPA: /ˈkÉ’É¡.nɨt/

Origin

From Latin cognātus ("related by blood"), from nātus ("born").

Full definition of cognate

Adjective

1. Allied by blood; kindred by birth; specifically (legal) 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.
3. (linguistics) Either descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language, or held on the grounds of the methods of historical linguistics to be regular reflexes of the unattested, reconstructed form of a proto-language.English mother is cognate to Greek μητέρα, German Mutter, Russian мать and Persian مادر.In English, queen is cognate to quean, both of which are cognate to Russian жена, Icelandic kona and Irish bean.In English, shirt is cognate to skirt, both descended from the Proto-Indo-European root *sker-, meaning "to cut".

Derived terms

• cognateness

Noun

1. One of a number of things allied in origin or nature.
2. (legal, dated) One who is related to another on the female side.
3. (legal, dated) One who is related to another, both having descended from a common ancestor through legal marriages.
4. A word either descended from the same base word of the same ancestor language as the given word, or strongly believed to be a regular reflex of the same reconstructed root of proto-language as the given word.English mother is a cognate of Greek μητέρα, German Mutter, Russian мать and Persian مادر.English queen and quean, Russian жена, Icelandic kona and Irish bean are all cognates.

Derived terms

• false cognate
• cognacy