Etymograph

English

cognatus

Cognatus comes from Latin cognatus ‘kinsman’, from nātus ‘born’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, give birth, beget’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-1‘to produce, give birth, beget’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₁tós1‘produced, given birth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnātos1‘born’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscor1‘to be born’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātus2‘born’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognatus3‘kinsman’
  7. Englishtodaycognatus3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin natus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin cognatus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English cognatus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵenh₁-Wiktionary, Latin natus‘to produce, give birth, beget’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₁tósWiktionary, Latin natus‘produced, given birth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnātosWiktionary, Latin natus‘born’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnāscorWiktionary, Latin natus‘to be born’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEnātusWiktionary, Latin cognatus‘born’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognatusWiktionary, English cognatus‘kinsman’
  7. EnglishtodaycognatusWiktionary, English cognatus

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce, give birth, beget’

general, kind, king, german, engine, generation, gender, nation, genuine, gene, oxygen, ken, genre, gentle, genius, indigenous, genocide, hydrogen, kin, genus, genital, germ, ingenious, gentile, gens, puny, genial, genteel, gingerly, janata, genitive, jaunty, glycogen, azadi, nomen, estrogenic, 103 more

through Latin nāscor ‘to be born’

nature, pregnant, innate, nascent, renate, 8 more

through Latin nātus ‘born’

natural, native, noel, naive, nee, natal, nada, nativity, 4 more

Today it means

noun A blood relative

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “cognatus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin natus, Latin cognatus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- / cognatus

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