CONNOISSEUR

PRONUNCIATION: (kon-uh-SUHR/SOOR)

MEANING: noun: An expert who is knowledgeable enough to pass critical judgment in a field, especially in fine arts, cuisines, etc.

ETYMOLOGY: From French connoisseur (connaisseur in Modern French), from Old French conoisseor, from conoistre (to know), from Latin cognoscere (to learn or get to know), from co- (together) + gnoscere (to know), (to learn). Ultimately from the Indo-European root gno- (to know), which is also the source of know, recognize, acquaint, ignore, diagnosis, notice, normal, agnostic, incognito, anagnorisis (the moment of recognition or discovery), and prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces). Earliest documented use: 1719.
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CONNOISSOEUR - it's a wise child who knows his own sister

CON - NO, I'SE SUR - It's OK, Henri, he ain't puttin' you on

CONN OISTEUR - poorly-spelled bivalve mollusk from New London, CT