connaître

• connaitre
• connoître (obsolete)

From Old French conoistre, from Latin cognōscere, present active infinitive of cognōscō (probably through a Vulgar Latin *connōscere).

See cognates in regional languages in France : Norman counnaîte, Picard connoète, Bourguignon quenoître, Franco-Provençal cognêtre, Occitan conóisser or conéisser, Corsican cunnosce.

Also cognate with German kennen.

• IPA^(key): /kɔ.nɛtʁ/

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connaître

1. (transitive) to know (of), to be familiar with (a person, place, fact, event)
2. (transitive) to know, to experience (glory, hunger, problems etc.)
3. (transitive, archaic) to know (sexually)
4. (takes a reflexive pronoun) to be knowledgeable (en about)

   C'est toi qui t'y connais! ― You're the expert! (literally, “It is you who knows!”)

In the sense of "to know something to be true", the verb savoir is used.

This verb is one of a fairly small group of -re verbs, that are all conjugated the same way. They are unlike other verb groups in that the ‘i’ is given a circumflex before a ‘t’.

This verb is one of a fairly small group of -re verbs, that are all conjugated the same way. They are unlike other verb groups in that the ‘i’ is given a circumflex before a ‘t’.

• connaissance
• connu

• “connaître” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

• actionner, container, encornait, reconnait, reconnaît, renonçait

• counaîte (France, Guernsey)

From Old French conoistre, from Latin cognōscere, present active infinitive of cognōscō (probably through a Vulgar Latin *connōscere).

connaître

1. (Jersey) to know

• connaître de vue (“to know by sight”)