The Etymology of Connoisseur
Connoisseur is one of two words English imported during the 18th-century vogue for refined taste โ tโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโhe other being its Italian cousin 'cognoscenti.' Both descend from Latin 'cognoscere' (to know thoroughly), from 'co-' (together, intensively) plus 'gnoscere' (to know), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root '*วตnehโ-' that produces Greek 'gnosis,' English 'know,' German 'kennen,' and Sanskrit 'jรฑฤna.' English borrowed 'connoisseur' from French in 1714 with the older spelling that French itself was already reforming. By the early 19th century French had standardised on 'connaisseur,' but English never updated, and the older 'connoisseur' is now a spelling fossil โ a snapshot of how French looked when 'Tatler' was new. Connoisseur and cognoscenti are siblings, the French and Italian halves of the same idea, both still alive in English with slightly different accents.