cognacy

plural cognacies

1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe relationship between cognates; the condition of sharing a common ancestor term in another language.

   First, in depending on vocabulary, as opposed to morphology or grammar, one runs the risk of assuming cognacy between similar words when the real explanation is borrowing.

   2000, Bernd Heine, Derek Nurse, African Languages: An Introduction, →ISBN, page 262

   Synonyms: cognateness, cognancy

2. countableuncountablehuman sciencesThe degree to which two languages share cognates, usually expressed as a percentage

   In Table 13.1 are given the percentages for the degrees of cognacy between pairs of languages in the Upper Cross group.

   1988, Monday B. Abasiattai, Expanding frontiers of African history: the inter-disciplinary methodology, →ISBN, page 255