Meanings
plural agnates
- A relative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family.
A great-grandfather is an agnate if he is your father’s father’s father.
1 more example
Men accuse agnates of their own generation of bewitching them.
2013, John Middleton, E. H. Winter, Witchcraft and Sorcery in East Africa, page 203 - Any paternal male relative.
comparative more agnate · superlative most agnate
- Related to someone by male connections or on the paternal side of the family.
- allied; akin
Assume more or less of a fictitious character, but congenial and agnate […] with the former.
1829, Walter Savage Landor, “Florentine, English Visitor, and Landor”, in Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen, volume V (second series, volume II), London: James Duncan, […], →OCLC - human sciencesHaving a similar semantic meaning.
[...] we can talk about a swim, a drink, a look, even though swim, drink and look can also show up as verbs in agnate clauses.
2013, Thomas Bloor, Meriel Bloor, The Functional Analysis of English
Synonyms & antonyms
nounone related on the father's side
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
- Proto-Italic*ad
- Proto-Italic*ad-
- Latinad-
- Proto-Indo-European*ǵenh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*ǵn̥h₁tós
- Proto-Italic*gnātos
- Latingnātus
- Latinagnātu
- Englishagnate
Learned borrowing from Latin agnātus (“paternal kinsman”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan agnat
- agnatrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
Czech agnát, příbuzný z otcovy strany
- agnátrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
- příbuzný z otcovy stranyrelated by male connections
Danish agnat
- agnatrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
Esperanto agnato
- agnatorelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
Finnish mieslinjainen sukulainen, agnaatti
- mieslinjainen sukulainenrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
- agnaattirelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
- mieslinjainenrelated by male connections
French agnat
- agnatrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
German Agnat
- Agnatrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
Italian agnato
- agnatorelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
Polish agnat, agnatka
- agnatrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
- agnatkarelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
- agnackirelated by male connections
Portuguese agnato
- agnatorelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
Russian агна́т, единокро́вный
- агна́т (agnát)relative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
- единокро́вный (jedinokróvnyj)related by male connections
Spanish agnado, agnado
- agnadorelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
- agnadorelated by male connections
Swedish agnat
- agnatrelative whose relation is traced only through male members of the family
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with agnate
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
agnate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agnate
“agnate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agnate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “agnate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/agnate.
Source: agnate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.