cognatus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [kɔŋˈnaː.tʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [koɲˈɲaː.tus]^[1]

Forms

cognātus (feminine cognāta, neuter cognātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin con- + gnātus (“born”), gnātus being the old form of nātus, the participle of nāscor “to be born”.^[2][3][4] Gnātus continues Proto-Italic *gnātos, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵn̥h₁tós, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source for the noun is Plautus, and Terence uses it of a woman who is a close relation.^[5][2] Köbler dates Plautus about 250–184 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant related by birth, and as a noun a blood relation on either the father's or the mother's side, a wider term than agnatus, which was a relation in the male line.^[2][6][4] It also meant belonging to kinsmen, as Catullus' line about a grave not laid near kindred ashes, and Virgil's kindred cities.^[2][7] Figuratively it meant akin or having affinity, as in Cicero's Timaeus and of words fitting the things they name.^[2]

The Vulgate uses cognati of fellow members of a people, as Paul of the Israelites, his kinsmen according to the flesh.^[3] Medieval Latin used it of relations by marriage, a brother-in-law, nephew or cousin.^[8][9][5] It survives in Spanish cuñado and Portuguese cunhado “brother-in-law” and Romanian cumnat.^[1] English cognate is recorded in the 1640s, first of people related by birth.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses the noun.^[5]
• 190–159 BC – Terence uses it of a relative.^[2][5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it of a family's tombs.^[2][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of fellow Israelites.^[3][5]
• 1640s – English cognate is recorded.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Related by birth, kindred.^[2][1]
2. Of or belonging to kinsmen.^[2]
3. (figurative) Akin, related, similar.^[2][1]

Noun

1. A blood relation, kinsman.^[2][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) A relation by marriage, a brother-in-law; a nephew or cousin.^[8][9]

Word family

• cōgnāta
• cognātiō

Related words

• agnātus
• English cognate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com