Conoscente

Origin

From , modern form of obsolete cognoscente.

Full definition of conoscente

Noun

• 1786–7, James Lowry Clifford, Hester Lynch Piozzi (Mrs. Thrale) Chapter Travel on the Continent, I passed two Mornings in looking at the pictures of Sasso Ferrato and Andrea Mantegna, Names which I used to know only in Books: the Works of Guido Reni as the Italians always call him however, give one the real, & true, & unaffected Delight which that Art can afford—and as Goldsmith used to say the way to set up for a Conoscente was to talk a great deal about Pietro Perugino, I assure you that in that Merit I have already made many advances.
• 1814, Oliver Goldsmith, Englisches Lesebuch zur Erlernung der Umgangssprache mit Hinweisung auf meine englische Sprachlehre Chapter From w, Upon asking how he had been taught the art of a conoscente so very suddenly, he assured me that nothing was more easy.
• 1824, William Henry Smyth, Memoir Descriptive of the Resources, Inhabitants, and Hydrography, of Sicily and Its Islands, Interspersed with Antiquarian and Other Notices, The conoscenti of the island have been greatly perplexed respecting a ruin recently discovered a few feet under ground: ...
• 1826, The first representation of the long-expected ballet of M. Blache, “Les Filets de Vulcain,” has been again put off. It seems to be looked forward to with as much anxiety by the conoscenti of Paris, as the splendid ballet of “La Naissance de Venus” was by those of London.
• 31 July 1831, Arthur Henry Hallam, The Letters of Arthur Henry Hallam Chapter To w, You affect to be a conoscente in friendship; what an amazing difference it makes, do you not think so, in one man’s feelings towards another, when, other things being equal, he can like his faults, and looks on some degree of them, or at least the dispositions from which they spring, as necessary to make up the simple object of his love?
• 1 July 1834, Miscellaneous Notices of the Fine Arts, Literature, Science, the Drama, &c., We have no hesitation in saying that the equals of these superb views and compositions have never been displayed to the conoscenti of our new hemisphere; ...
• 1837, Lady Charlotte Bury, The Divorced, “Oh! there are a thousand handsomer persons than Lady Fanny Harcourt; but she is a sweet, blushing, lively girl, quite fresh, quite new. You will not lose your character for a conoscente in professing yourself one of her adorateurs; and doubtless Lady Harcourt will give you every encouragement, notwithstanding all her prudery.”
• 1870, Charles Lock Eastlake, Contributions to the Literature of the Fine Arts, The conoscenti of Pieve are certain that Titian must have come by Belluno to Pieve in his almost annual visit to his birth-place; but certainly the landscapes in Le Fèvre’s collection do not correspond with any scene in that road, nor with the scenery for many miles round Pieve.
• 1884, George Gilbert Treherne Treherne, Record of the University Boat Race, 1829–1883, Their double victories of the preceding year had caused them to be favourites, so long as the conoscenti of London had only newspaper reports to judge by; ...
• 4 February 1897, Lenox Prendergast, Italian Renaissance Architecture, Was it apathy on the part of the conoscenti of our day that restrained Joseph Gwilt from adequately putting forward the claims of this period of architecture?
• 1898, w, Wotton’s book is, of course, not exactly of the University Extension type. It is written not by a pedagogue for smatterers, but by a conoscente for amateurs, and was published (1624) in the last decade of the author’s life.
• 1903, Frederic Whitmore, A Florida Farm Chapter Settling, I was now a conoscente in joinery, and took pleasure in his work.
• 1906, Clement Lindley Wragge, The Romance of the South Seas, He will carry round a meal to a European, if within coo-ee of his store, in a neat tin can for fifty cents to a dollar Chile; save one all the bother of cooking; and the dishes are fit for a conoscente of the Palais Royal.
• a. 1914, Frederick Rolfe, The Armed Hands and Other Stories and Pieces Chapter The Venetians, I was an eminent, very eximious, and most clearly illuminating writer, such being my proper art and mystery: but, in the matter of cleaning paint off wooden idols with caustic soda, I was (wasn’t it true?) a mere dilettante, whereas he the speaker was a conoscente and the facts remained I was content with my idol and that he was damaged on my account to the extent named.
• 1961, Clive Staples Lewis, w:An Experiment in Criticism Chapter The Experiment, He may chance to cut a poor figure in the eyes of posterity, for a work which was mere commercial trash to the conoscenti of one generation might possibly become a classic to those of another.
• 1962, A conoscente of the arts, familiar with antiques since childhood, he has an innate design sense.