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Glite Dictionary
cognate word

cognate word

7.2
A word in another language that comes from the same older word
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒɡneɪt wɜrd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : palabra cognada
  • Latin 'frater' and English 'brother' are classic examples of cognate words in linguistics.

Examples

  • Many Spanish and Italian cognate words make learning vocabulary easier for language students.

  • Etymologists can often trace a single cognate word across several Indo-European languages.

  • Many cognate words exist between Spanish and Italian.

  • Can you give me an example of a cognate word?

  • Latin 'frater' and English 'brother' are classic examples of cognate words that show their common origin.

  • Many Spanish and Italian cognate words help students recognize vocabulary patterns between the two languages.

  • Etymologists can identify many cognate words that connect different languages through shared roots.

Synonyms

cognate
vscognate word
  • Specialized
1 8.2

A word that comes from the same original word in another language

requires the related word to be in a different language

Surface Forms

cognate word singular
cognate words plural

Morphology

cognate + word

The meaning of 'cognate word' is directly compositional: 'cognate' specifies an etymological relation and 'word' names the lexical item, so together they denote a word that shares a common origin with another. This is a technical but transparent combination and the concept is cross-linguistically recognizable, so a learner who knows both constituents will understand the phrase.

Etymology

The term cognate word comes from the image of cognate, meaning 'related', and word as language 'siblings' that grew from the same older word, like two branches on one tree. So a cognate word is a word in another language that 'shares a root' with a word you know, which is why they often look or sound similar.