Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A person with superior, usually specialized knowledge or highly refined taste; a connoisseur.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A connoisseur: most used in the plural.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A connoisseur.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Someone possessing superior or specialized knowledge in a particular field; a connoisseur.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an expert able to appreciate a field; especially in the fine arts

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete Italian, from Latin cognōscēns, cognōscent-, present participle of cognōscere, to know; see cognition.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Obsolete Italian cognoscente (now conoscente) from Latin cognoscere "to know"

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Examples

Comments

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  • In modern Italian, this word is not in use, and conoscente (same etymology) means "acquaintance" (someone who knows... who you are).

    June 28, 2008