What does "cognize" mean?

To know, perceive, or become aware of.

What is a synonym for "cognize"?

Common synonyms include: appreciate, apprehend, can, cognise, comprehend, conceive.

//ˈkɑɡˌnaɪz// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Verb

1
To know, perceive, or become aware of.
"[T]hey must possess organs of sight—some method of cognizing their environment—akin to that of vision in man."
2
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about wordnet
3
To make into an object of cognition (the process of acquiring knowledge through thought); to cogitate.
"Cognizing about mind is a ubiquitous human activity; we consistently construe each other as agents undertaking intentional action based on our underlying beliefs and desires (and not as "bags of skin stuffed into pieces of cloth")"

"[T]hey must possess organs of sight—some method of cognizing their environment—akin to that of vision in man."

Back-formation from cognizance.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.