English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From obsolete Italian cognoscente (modern Italian conoscente) from Latin cognōscere (to know).

Pronunciation edit

  • (UK) IPA(key): /kɒnjəˈʃɛnti/, /ˌkɒnjəˈʃɛnti/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌkɑɡnəˈʃɛnti/, /ˌkɑnjəˈʃɛnti/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Homophone: cognoscenti

Noun edit

cognoscente (plural cognoscenti)

  1. (often in the plural) Someone possessing superior or specialized knowledge in a particular field.
    Synonyms: connoisseur, maven
    • 1872, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XX, in Middlemarch [], volume II, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book II:
      He is the painter who has been held to combine the most complete grace of form with sublimity of expression. Such at least I have gathered to be the opinion of cognoscenti.
    • 1904 November, O. Henry [pseudonym; William Sydney Porter], Cabbages and Kings, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co.:
      He was a brilliant cosmopolite and a cognoscente of high rank; but, after all, he was of the same race and blood and instinct as this people.
    • 1998, Marc J. Seifer, chapter 42, in Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Tesla: Biography of a Genius, →ISBN, page 397:
      At night, as creative author, the cognoscente sketched out the first draft of his expanded autobiography.
    • 2011, Patrick Spedding, James Lambert, “Fanny Hill, Lord Fanny, and the Myth of Metonymy”, in Studies in Philology, volume 108, number 1, page 117:
      In the latter case — if only a handful of people knew the term — it would have been pretty pointless for Cleland to name his protagonist Fanny when practically nobody was likely to get the joke, not even cognoscenti such as Grose.
    • 2018 August 19, Sean O’Hagan, quoting Irvine Welsh, “Irvine Welsh: ‘I thought Trainspotting would be a cult book, but not generation-defining’”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
      The initial buzz it generated was among a certain section of the London cultural cognoscenti, the ex-punk crowd. They got it immediately.
    • 2019 May 11, Farah Nayeri, “Venice Biennale’s Top Prize Goes to Lithuania”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN:
      The Biennale can be daunting for those who are not art cognoscenti or participants in the art world.
    • 2020 December 30, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Cut HS2 eastern leg, says NIC?”, in Rail, page 3:
      And by the way, yes I AM inventing the HS2E acronym, because few outside the HS2 cognoscenti understand all that 'Phase' stuff!

Related terms edit

Translations edit

Italian edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /koɲ.ɲoʃˈʃɛn.te/
  • Rhymes: -ɛnte
  • Hyphenation: co‧gno‧scèn‧te

Participle edit

cognoscente (plural cognoscenti)

  1. (obsolete) present participle of cognoscere

Spanish edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): (Spain) /koɡnosˈθente/ [koɣ̞.nosˈθẽn̪.t̪e]
  • IPA(key): (Latin America) /koɡnoˈsente/ [koɣ̞.noˈsẽn̪.t̪e]
  • Rhymes: -ente
  • Syllabification: cog‧nos‧cen‧te

Adjective edit

cognoscente m or f (masculine and feminine plural cognoscentes)

  1. cognitive

Further reading edit