Cognizance
noun ·Uncommon ·College level
Definitions
- 1 An emblem, badge or device, used as a distinguishing mark by the body of retainers of a royal or noble house. countable, uncountable
- 2 having knowledge of wordnet
- 3 Notice or awareness. countable, uncountable
"Poor Lady Rotheles was really so imprudent on the late occasion of her niece's elopement as to go into a passion, and to utter such a tirade against her, her lord was roused from his habitual, but not natural listlessness, and became, in consequence, master of sentiments and secrets hitherto most commendably concealed from his cognizance."
- 4 range or scope of what is perceived wordnet
- 5 Jurisdiction. countable, uncountable
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- 6 range of what one can know or understand wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Poor Lady Rotheles was really so imprudent on the late occasion of her niece's elopement as to go into a passion, and to utter such a tirade against her, her lord was roused from his habitual, but not natural listlessness, and became, in consequence, master of sentiments and secrets hitherto most commendably concealed from his cognizance."
Etymology
From Middle English conysaunce, from Old French conysance (“recognition," later, "knowledge”), from Old French conoissance (“acquaintance, recognition; knowledge, wisdom”), from conoistre (“to know”), from Latin cognōscō (“know”), from con- (“with”) + gnōscō (“know”). By surface analysis, cogniz(e) (a back-formation) + -ance.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.