Meanings
adjectivecognate (not comparable)
alternative abbreviation cogn.
- not comparableAllied by blood; kindred by birth; specifically (law) related on the mother's side.
Synonyms: akin, same-blooded, akin, consanguine, consanguineous, consanguineal, natural, same-blooded
- not comparableOf the same or a similar nature; of the same family; proceeding from the same stock or root.
1 more example
This explanation provoked further great hilarity among the members of the committee. And the frankness was admired by many with which Louit, on his return, confessed to having found, in the course of his excursion, three barns in all, of which two contained empty bottles and the third the skeleton of a goat. But in other quarters this and cognate statements were viewed in another and less friendly light.
1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLCSynonyms: allied, kindred, connate, akin, connate, kindred, agnate
nouncognate (plural cognates)
plural cognates · alternative abbreviation cogn.
- One of a number of things allied in origin or nature.
- datedlawOne who is related to another on the female side.
- datedlawOne who is related to another, both having descended from a common ancestor through legal marriages.
- human sciencesA word either descended from the same base word of the same ancestor language as the given word, or judged to be a regular reflex of the same reconstructed root of proto-language as the given word.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveAllied by blood; kindred by birth; specifically (law) related on the mother's side.
adjectiveOf the same or a similar nature; of the same family; proceeding from the same stock or root.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehaving the same ancestral language
Similar
relatedrelated to
adjectiverelated by blood
Similar
nounone related by blood or origin; especially on sharing an ancestor with another
nouna word is cognate with another if both derive from the same word in an ancestral language
Similar
cognate word
Broader
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Afrikaans kognaat
- kognaatword derived from the same roots as a given word
Bengali সমগোত্রজ
- সমগোত্রজ (śômogotroj)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Bulgarian родствен, родствен
- родствен (rodstven)kindred by birth
- родствен (rodstven)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- сроден (sroden)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Catalan cognat
- cognatword derived from the same roots as a given word
Chinese Mandarin 同源, 同源詞 /同源词
- 同源 (tóngyuán)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- 同源詞 /同源词 (tóngyuáncí)word derived from the same roots as a given word
Czech příbuzný, příbuzný
- příbuznýkindred by birth
- příbuznýdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- stejného původudescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Danish kognat
- kognatdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Dutch bloedverwant, cognaat
- bloedverwantkindred by birth
- cognaatdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- woordverwantdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- wortelverwantdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- verwanteword derived from the same roots as a given word
- cognaatword derived from the same roots as a given word
Esperanto kognato
- kognatoword derived from the same roots as a given word
Finnish olla sukua [jollekin], sukulaissana
- olla sukua [jollekin]descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- sukulaissanaword derived from the same roots as a given word
French apparenté, mot apparenté
- apparentédescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- mot apparentéword derived from the same roots as a given word
- cognatword derived from the same roots as a given word
German kognat, blutverwandt
- kognatkindred by birth
- blutverwandtkindred by birth
- verwandtdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- etymologisch verwandtdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- stammverwandtdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- urverwandtdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- wurzelverwandtdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- Verwandteword derived from the same roots as a given word
- Kognatword derived from the same roots as a given word
- verwandtes Wortword derived from the same roots as a given word
Greek συγγενής
- συγγενής (syngenís)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Hindi सजातीय, सजातीय
- सजातीय (sajātīya)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- सजातीय (sajātīya)word derived from the same roots as a given word
Hungarian rokon, rokon szó
- rokondescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- rokon szóword derived from the same roots as a given word
- azonos/közös eredetű szóword derived from the same roots as a given word
- közös tőből származó szóword derived from the same roots as a given word
Icelandic samstofna, skyldur
- samstofnadescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- skyldurdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- samstofna orðword derived from the same roots as a given word
Indonesian kognat, kata kerabat
- kognatword derived from the same roots as a given word
- kata kerabatword derived from the same roots as a given word
- kata seasalword derived from the same roots as a given word
Italian congiunto, affine
- congiuntokindred by birth
- affinedescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- imparentatodescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Japanese 同源, 同根語
- 同源 (dōgen)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- 同根語 (dōkongo)word derived from the same roots as a given word
Korean 동계어
- 동계어 (donggyeeo)word derived from the same roots as a given word
Lithuanian giminingas
- giminingasdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Malay kognat, serumpun
- kognatdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- serumpundescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- kognatword derived from the same roots as a given word
- kata serumpunword derived from the same roots as a given word
Polish pokrewny, pokrewny wyraz
- pokrewnykindred by birth
- pokrewny wyrazword derived from the same roots as a given word
- spokrewniony wyrazword derived from the same roots as a given word
Portuguese cognato, cognato
- cognatodescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- cognatoword derived from the same roots as a given word
Romanian înrudit, cuvânt înrudit
- înruditdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- cuvânt înruditword derived from the same roots as a given word
Russian ро́дственный, исконноро́дственный
- ро́дственный (ródstvennyj)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- исконноро́дственный (iskonnoródstvennyj)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- однокоренно́й (odnokorennój)descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- однокоренно́е сло́во (odnokorennóje slóvo)word derived from the same roots as a given word
- ро́дственное сло́во (ródstvennoje slóvo)word derived from the same roots as a given word
- когна́т (kognát)word derived from the same roots as a given word
Spanish emparentado, familiar
- emparentadokindred by birth
- familiarkindred by birth
- cognadodescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- cognadoword derived from the same roots as a given word
Swedish kognat, kognat
- kognatdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- kognatword derived from the same roots as a given word
- släktordword derived from the same roots as a given word
Turkish kökteş
- kökteşdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
Vietnamese cùng gốc, đồng nguyên
- cùng gốcdescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- đồng nguyêndescended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- đồng căn (同根）descended from the same attested source lexeme of an ancestor language
- từ cùng gốcword derived from the same roots as a given word
Welsh gair cytras
- gair cytrasword derived from the same roots as a given word
Yiddish קאָגנאַט
- קאָגנאַט (kognat)word derived from the same roots as a given word
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
cognate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cognate
MLA
“cognate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cognate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cognate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cognate.
Source: cognate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.