cognation
/kɒɡˈneɪʃən/
"cognation" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cognation” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cognate relationship.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cognation · cognation · English
cognation · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cognation |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɒɡˈneɪʃən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cognation” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cognation is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɒɡˈneɪʃən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A cognate relationship.".
Zero misspellings are on record for cognation in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cognacion, cognacioun, from Latin cognātiō; equivalent to cognate + -ion. The correct English form is cognation, spelled C-O-G-N-A-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A cognate relationship.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cognation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
[…] these stones, I say, gratifie our sight, as having a nearer cognation with the Soul of Man, that is Rational and Intellectual, and therefore is well pleased when it meets with any outward Object that fits and agrees with those congenite Ideas her own nature is furnished with.
Cowan (1957a, 1957b) has established the following CVC cognation percentages using for his 'Tami Group' only the languages classed by the present writer as constituting the Upper Tami Families.
Etymology
From Middle English cognacion, cognacioun, from Latin cognātiō; equivalent to cognate + -ion.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.