Connoisseur

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ËŒkÉ’nəˈsÉœr/, /ËŒkÉ’nəˈsÊŠÉ™r/

Alternative forms

• connaisseur

Origin

Around 1705–1715, from French connoisseur, from the verb connoître (obsolete pre-1835 spelling of connaître ("to know")).

Noun

1. A specialist of a given field whose opinion is valued; especially in one of the fine arts, or in a matter of taste
• 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, This, when it was brought to him, he drank slowly, like a connoisseur, lingering on the taste...

Synonyms

• cognoscente