cognizant \KOG-nuh-zuhnt, KON-uh-\,
adjective:
1. having cognizance; aware (usually followed by of ): He was cognizant of the difficulty.
2. having legal cognizance.
A Frenchman was cognizant of the murder. It is possible--indeed it is far more than probable--that he was innocent of all participation in the bloody transaction which took place.
-- Edgar Allan Poe, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," 1841
I don't really think you've been as cognizant of that fact in the past as you might have been.
-- Stanley Elkin, "Boswell: A Modern Comedy," 1964
Cognizant is modern construction, dating from the early 1800s. It is likely formed from the term cognizance.
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