cognosce

C3O1G2N1O1S1C3E1
US/kɑɡˈnoʊs/

verb

To determine a person to be insane or mentally incompetent.

OriginLatin cognosco →
Scrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbcognosce (third-person singular simple present cognosces, present participle cognoscing, simple past and past participle cognosced)

present singular third person cognosces · participle present cognoscing · participle past cognosced · past cognosced

  1. transitiveTo determine a person to be insane or mentally incompetent.

    […] directing him to enquire whether the Person sought to be Cognosced is Insane, who is his nearest Agnate, and whether such Agnate is of lawful age […]

    1869, Hugh Barclay, I. S. H. Laidlaw, The Journal of Jurisprudence, volume 13
  2. ScotlandlawTo examine; to give judgment.

Origin

  1. Latincognosco
  2. Englishcognosce

Learned borrowing from Latin cognosco.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

cognosce. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cognosce

MLA

“cognosce.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cognosce. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cognosce,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cognosce.

Source: cognosce on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.