English
cognovit
Cognovit comes from Latin cognōscō ‘to learn, to get to know’, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti ‘to recognise’, and ultimately from *ǵneh₃-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-1‘to recognise’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱéti1‘to recognise’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnōskō1‘to know, get to know’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnōscō1‘to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognōscō2as cognovit‘to learn, to get to know’
- Englishtodaycognovit2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin cognosco
- 2 Wiktionary, English cognovit
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-Wiktionary, Latin cognosco‘to recognise’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱétiWiktionary, Latin cognosco‘to recognise’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnōskōWiktionary, Latin cognosco‘to know, get to know’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnōscōWiktionary, Latin cognosco‘to know’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognōscōWiktionary, English cognovitas cognovit‘to learn, to get to know’
- EnglishtodaycognovitWiktionary, English cognovit
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’
can, know, could, normal, narrative, glory, ken, keen, ignore, con, recognition, ignorant, norm, cunning, narration, canny, prognosis, connoisseur, canna, uncouth, kith, cun, gnosis, recognizance, 82 more
through Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₃sḱéti ‘to recognise’
diagnostic, gnome, agnostic, 38 more
through Proto-Italic *gnōskō ‘to know, get to know’
denote, annotation, noblesse, ignoble, 32 more
through Latin gnōscō ‘to know’
note, notice, noble, notion, notorious, notation, nobility, notoriety, notary, cognition, acquaint, annotate, 32 more
through Latin cognōscō ‘to learn, to get to know’
recognize, cognitive, quaint, incognito, cognizance, precognition, 13 more
Today it means
noun An instrument in writing whereby a defendant in an action acknowledges a plaintiff's demand to be just.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “cognovit”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin cognosco. 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 *ǵneh₃- / cognovit