Etymologically
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cognitivus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [kɔŋ.nɪˈtiː.wʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [koɲ.ɲiˈtiː.vus][1]

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]

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