What does false cognate mean?
Definitions for false cognate
false cog·nate
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word false cognate.
Did you actually mean false smut or flesh wound?
Wiktionary
false cognatenoun
A word that appears to be cognate to that is, to have a shared linguistic origin with a given word, but that is in fact unrelated.
false cognatenoun
A false friend, a word that appears to have the same meaning as a given word, but that does not.
Wikipedia
False cognate
False cognates are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages, even within the same family. For example, the English word dog and the Mbabaram word dog have exactly the same meaning and very similar pronunciations, but by complete coincidence. Likewise, English much and Spanish mucho came by their similar meanings via completely different Proto-Indo-European roots, and same for English have and Spanish haber. This is different from false friends, which are similar-sounding words with different meanings, but which may in fact be etymologically related. Even though false cognates lack a common root, there may still be an indirect connection between them (for example by phono-semantic matching or folk etymology).
Wikidata
False cognate
False cognates are pairs of words in the same or different languages that are similar in form and meaning but have different roots. That is, they appear to be, or are sometimes considered, cognates, when in fact they are not. This is different from a false friend, which is where the words in fact have similar roots but have diverged in meaning. Even if false cognates lack a common root, there may still be an indirect connection between them, and in any case they can still be helpful in learning another language.
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of false cognate in Chaldean Numerology is: 3
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of false cognate in Pythagorean Numerology is: 9
Translations for false cognate
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"false cognate." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 17 Jan. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/false+cognate>.
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