Word.ws English Dictionary

cognizance

Syllables: cog·ni·zance/ˈkɒɡnɪzəns/US/ˈkɑɡnɪzəns/

cognizance noun: an emblem, badge or device, used as a distinguishing mark by the body of retainers of a royal or noble house.

Noun

cognizance (countable and uncountable, plural cognizances)

  1. An emblem, badge or device, used as a distinguishing mark by the body of retainers of a royal or noble house.
  2. Notice or awareness.
    • 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...1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XLIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 244
    • As soon as he had left, he rushed to the screen and drew it back. No; there was no further change in the picture. It had received the news of Sibyl Vane's death before he had known of it himself. It was conscious of the events of life as they occurred. The vicious cruelty that marred the fine lines...1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 8, in The Picture of Dorian Gray
  3. Jurisdiction.

cognizance meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada

cognizance in Tamil

அறிதல், கவனிப்பு, செயலாட்சி வரம்பு, தெரிதல்

cognizance in Malayalam

awareness, realization, conscious-ness
അവബോധം, ബോധം, സ്വബോധം, സ്വയംബോധം, സ്വയാവബോധം, ഉൾബോധം

cognizance in Kannada

ಅರಿವು, ತಿಳುವಳಿಕೆ, ಗುರುತು, ಸಂಜ್ಞಾನ, ಗಮನಕ್ಕೆ ಬರುವುದು

Forms of cognizance

pluralcognizances
alternative formcognisance
alternative form (obsolete)cognizaunce

Origin of cognizance

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.

Words formed from cognizance

Questions about cognizance

What does cognizance mean?
Cognizance means an emblem, badge or device, used as a distinguishing mark by the body of retainers of a royal or noble house.
What is cognizance in Tamil?
Cognizance in Tamil is அறிதல், கவனிப்பு, செயலாட்சி வரம்பு. See Cognizance meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is cognizance?
Cognizance is a noun.
How do you pronounce cognizance?
Cognizance is pronounced /ˈkɒɡnɪzəns/ (UK).
What is the plural of cognizance?
The plural of cognizance is cognizances.

Words near cognizance in the dictionary

  1. cognizable
  2. cognizable offence
  3. cognizable offences
  4. cognizableness
  5. cognizably
  6. cognizance
  7. cognizances
  8. cognizant
  9. cognizantly
  10. cognization
  11. cognizaunce

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cognizance (page history and authors); cognizance (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cognizance (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); cognizance (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cognizance.wav.

Cite this entry: “cognizance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cognizance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.