cognizant

English

A new formation from cognizance +‎ -ant; first attested in the 19th century.^[1] Compare Old French conoissant (present participle of conoistre; modern French connaissant), from Latin cognōscentem (accusative singular present participle of cōgnōscō).

enPR: kŏg'nǐzənt
- (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒɡnɪzənt/
- (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑɡnɪzənt/
- (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɡnɪzənt/
(obsolete) enPR: kŏ'nĭzənt, (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnɪzənt/
Hyphenation: cog‧ni‧zant

cognizant (comparative more cognizant, superlative most cognizant)

Aware; fully informed; having understanding of a fact.
The defendant is cognizant that this is a serious charge.
- 1844, Edgar Allan Poe, “The Premature Burial”, in The Works of the Late Edgar Allan Poe, volume I, New York: J. S. Redfield, published 1850, page 336:
  And now the memory has so far regained its dominion, that, in some measure, I am cognizant of my state.
- 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 7:
  At the same time, we were cognisant that careful scholars should never solely rely on their own impressionistic observations, and, that our own impressions were inexact and not capable of being quantified.
Sapient; self-aware.
- 2011 April 30, United States Strategic Command, CONPLAN 8888-11 "COUNTER-ZOMBIE DOMINANCE"‎^[1] (PDF), archived from the original on 15 March 2023, CONPLAN PHASES:
  It is important to note that zombies are not cognizant life forms. As such, they cannot be deterred or reasoned with in any way. However, there are zombie-inducing forces that can be deterred form^[sic] further action.

aware

^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Cognizant”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 597, column 1.