cogent

English

WOTD – 2 May 2010

Etymology

From Latin cōgēns, present active participle of cōgō (“drive together, compel”), from cō + agō (“drive”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊd͡ʒn̩t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊd͡ʒn̩t/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -əʊdʒn̩t, -oʊdʒn̩t

Adjective

cogent (comparative more cogent, superlative most cogent)

1. Reasonable and convincing; based on evidence.
   • 1944 May and June, “In the Critics' Den”, in Railway Magazine, page 132:

     We congratulate our correspondents on some very cogent reasoning, and shall have to watch our step even more carefully in future!

2. Appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning.
3. Forcefully persuasive; relevant, pertinent.

   The prosecution presented a cogent argument, convincing the jury of the defendant's guilt.

Derived terms

• cogency

Synonyms

compelling, conclusive, convincing, indisputable

Antonyms

debatable, irrelevant, uncogent

Related terms

• cache
• coagulate
• squat

Translations

reasonable and convincing; based on evidence

• Breton: gonidus, gounidus, kendrec'hus
• Bulgarian: състоятелен (bg) (sǎstojatelen), достоверен (bg) (dostoveren)
• Danish: overbevisende
• Dutch: overtuigend (nl), steekhoudend (nl)
• Finnish: järkevä (fi), järkiperäinen (fi)
• French: convaincant (fr), persuasif (fr), cohérent (fr)
• Galician: convincente (gl)
• German: überzeugend (de), zwingend (de)
• Italian: convincente (it), persuasivo (it), coherente, coerente (it)
• Norman: cogent, conveincant, creyable
• Portuguese: convincente (pt)
• Russian: убедительный (ru) (ubeditelʹnyj), достове́рный (ru) (dostovérnyj), обосно́ванный (ru) (obosnóvannyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: uverljiv (sh), uvjerljiv (sh), ubedljiv (sh), ubjedljiv
• Spanish: convincente (es), persuasivo (es)
• Swedish: övertygande (sv), bindande (sv) (law)
• Turkish: inandırıcı (tr), mantıklı (tr)

appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning

• Danish: overbevisende
• Dutch: overtuigend (nl)
• Finnish: järkevä (fi)
• French: intelligible (fr), logique (fr)
• German: überzeugend (de)
• Italian: intelligibile (it), logico (it)
• Portuguese: coerente (pt)
• Spanish: inteligible (es), lógico (es)
• Swedish: övertygande (sv)

forcefully persuasive

• Bulgarian: убедителен (bg) (ubeditelen)
• Danish: overbevisende, slagkraftig
• Dutch: overtuigend (nl)
• Finnish: vakuuttava (fi)
• French: irréfutable (fr)
• German: überzeugend (de), schlagend (de), stichhaltig (de)
• Italian: irrefutabile (it), inconfutabile (it)
• Portuguese: cogente (pt)
• Russian: убедительный (ru) (ubeditelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: làidir
• Spanish: irrefutable (es), irrebatible (es)
• Swedish: slagkraftig (sv), övertygande (sv)
• Turkish: ikna edici

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} meyakinkan (id), ^{(please verify)} telak (id)

Latin

Verb

cōgent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of cōgō