Translation
acquaintance
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Word origin
Not a borrowing at all: it is built inside Esperanto from koni 'to know a person', the passive present participle -at-, and the noun ending -o. Koni itself comes from Latin cognoscere, by way of French connaitre.
- Origin
- Esperanto, built on Latin cognoscere
- Root
- koni + -at- + -o
- English cognates
- cognition, acquaint, recognise
Examples
, .
He is an acquaintance, not a friend.
.
I met an old acquaintance in the street.
.
Her father has many acquaintances in the town.
Take it apart and the word explains itself. Koni is to know a person; -at- is the passive participle, "being ...ed"; -o makes a noun. A is therefore literally "a person who is known" - which is exactly what an acquaintance is, someone you know without the claim of friendship. English needs a Latin loanword for the idea; Esperanto assembles it from three pieces a beginner already has.
The tense of the participle is doing real work. is someone known now, o an acquaintance who is a woman, and i means to get to know one another, to become acquainted. Swap the participle and you change the timing rather than the word: this whole family of participle-plus--o nouns is set out in participial nouns, where the same machinery gives (a beloved), (an envoy) and (a defendant).
Where this fits
Word family
Words built on konato with Esperanto's affixes. Read each one from its parts.
- konateconoun
acquaintance (the relationship)
konato-ec-: the state of being acquainted
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konato: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Esperanto word "konato" (acquaintance): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is taught in chapter 20, lesson 11: konato, egipto, instrumento and 6 more words.