cognizance

英文词源

cognizance

cognizance: [14] Latin gnōscere meant ‘know’ (it is related to know and notion). From it was derived the compound verb cognōscere ‘get to know, recognize, acknowledge’. Its present participial stem cognōscent- formed the basis of a Vulgar Latin noun *connōscentia, which passed into Old French as connoissance. English borrowed this as conisance, restoring the Latin g to the spelling in the 15th century, which eventually affected the word’s pronunciation.

Also from the Latin present participle came Italian conoscente, which in its latinized form was borrowed into English as cognoscente in the 18th century. Meanwhile, the past participial stem of the Latin verb, cognit-, produced the noun cognitiō, source of English cognition [15]. The infinitive form of the Latin verb passed into Old French as connoître, from which was derived the agent noun connoisseur, borrowed into English in the 18th century (modern French has connaisseur).
=> cognition, connoisseur, know, notion, recognize, reconnaissance, reconnoitre

cognizance (n.)

mid-14c., from Anglo-French conysance "recognition," later, "knowledge," from Old French conoissance "acquaintance, recognition; knowledge, wisdom" (Modern French connaissance), from past participle of conoistre "to know," from Latin cognoscere "to get to know, recognize," from com- "together" (see co-) + gnoscere "to know" (see notice (n.)). The -g- was restored in English spelling 15c. and has gradually affected the pronunciation, which was always "con-." The old pronunciation lingered longest in legal use.