cognoscenti

[rajsudhakar]

can anyone say how to use cognoscenti in a sentence

[MrPedantic]

Hello Raj

"Cognoscenti" is the plural of "cognoscente". It means "the people who know (a particular subject) thoroughly", or "the people who are expert in (a particular subject)". It's sometimes used ironically.

Exx.

1. The ordinary blues enthusiast will not be particularly interested in the three newly discovered versions of Robert Johnson's "Crossroads Blues" which are to be found on this CD. But the cognoscenti will be fascinated by the variations in the bass line and the differing lyrics in versions #2 and #3.

2. Most visitors to the gallery will pass by Morandi's paintings of jugs and bottles without a second glance. To the cognoscenti, however, their muted greys, browns, and blues are endlessly appealing.

All the best,

MrP

[BobK]

Another Italian word borrowed by English in this area is literato. A literato is a cognoscente in the field of literature. The plural is literati.

b

[eflnow]

Originally Posted by BobK

Another Italian word borrowed by English in this area is literato. A literato is a cognoscente in the field of literature. The plural is literati.

b

The etymology of cognoscente is exact; if it can be of interest to anyone (perhaps not ha, ha), in modern Italian the translation for the word in question is: conoscente or conoscitore.

[MrPedantic]

I should have added that "cognoscenti" tends to appear in discussions of the arts; it would be unusual to find it in the context of sub-atomic particles, or butterfly genitalia, or the Poisson distribution.

MrP

[curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by BobK

Another Italian word borrowed by English in this area is literato. A literato is a cognoscente in the field of literature. The plural is literati.

b

Which I suppose is where 'glitterati' stems from.

[dafornas]

the correct spelling is "conoscenti", without "g"

Bye

[BobK]

Originally Posted by dafornas

the correct spelling is "conoscenti", without "g"

Bye

Indeed. Italian and I have been muckers (old friends) since long before the time of Dante Alighieri, and from time to time I lose track of the state of play, as far as etymology is concerned. There was a G there if you go back far enough - though I'm not sure how far.

b

[MrPedantic]

Originally Posted by dafornas

the correct spelling is "conoscenti", without "g"

Bye

Welcome to UE, Dafornas!

As you and Bob have said, the correct spelling in modern Italian omits the "g".

In English, however, we obstinately retain it.

All the best,

MrP