cognitivus

Forms

cognitīvus (feminine cognitīva, neuter cognitīvum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is a medieval formation, from Latin cognōscō (“to get to know”) + -īvus,^[1][2] made on the stem of the participle cognitus¹ (“known”).^[3] The DMLBS compares the parallel ⟨cognōscitīvus⟩.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest MLW citation is from Alfanus, who calls taste cognitīvus, discerning saltiness and fattiness, where the Greek has διαγνωστική (diagnōstikḗ).^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It became a word of scholastic philosophy, used of the powers of the soul that know or perceive,^[5][4][6] as opposed to the moving and desiring powers.^[4] Albertus Magnus uses it often: of God the Word as knowing and working, of the senses, and in his commentary on Dionysius for Greek γνωστικάς (gnōstikás); he notes that the ancients called every apprehending or knowing power “sense”.^[5] As a noun, the feminine cognitīva and the neuter cognitīvum meant the faculty of knowing.^[5][3] In Polish sources it also means “knowable” and, as a noun, the object of knowledge.^[3]

It is the source of English cognitive, first recorded in the 1580s, and of French cognitif and German kognitiv.^[7][1][2] Psychologists and sociologists took the English word over after about 1940.^[7]

Timeline

• mid 11th century – Alfanus calls taste a discerning sense.^[5][2]
• 13th century – Albertus Magnus uses it of the knowing powers of the soul.^[5][2]
• c. 1260 – Docking's commentary on 1 Timothy calls the power of the rational mind cognitive and appetitive.^[4]
• 1580s – English cognitive appears.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Medieval Latin) Of or concerning knowing; cognitive, perceiving, apprehending.^[6][5][4][1]
2. (Medieval Latin) Able to know; able to discern.^[5][3]
3. (Medieval Latin) Knowable.^[3]
4. (Medieval Latin, as a noun, feminine or neuter) The faculty of knowing.^[5][3]

Related words

• cognōscō
• cognitiō
• English cognitive

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c d e f Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
4. ^ a b c d e 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
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com