agnosco — Lewis & Short
agnosco (adgn-; also adn-; cf. Wagn. Orthog. 3, v. a.ad, intens. -gnosco, nosco (
Verg. p. 407), nōvi, nitum (like cognĭtum from cognosco; cf. pejĕro and dejĕro from jūro),I part. perf. agnōtus, Pac. ap. Prisc. p. 887 P.; part. fut. act. agnoturus, Sall. H. Fragm. 2, 31; cf. Diom. 383 P.; class.; used very freq. by Cicero).
I As if to know a person or thing well, as having known it before, to recognize: agnoscere always denotes a subjective knowledge or recognition; while cognoscere designates an objective perception; another distinction v. in II.): in turbā Oresti cognitā agnota est soror, was recognized by Orestes as his sister, Pac. ap. Prisc. 887 P.:
virtus cum se extollit et ostendit suum lumen et idem aspexit agnovitque in alio,and when she has perceived the same in another, and has recognized it, Cic. Lael. 27, 100:
id facillime accipiunt animi, quod agnoscunt,Quint. 8, 3, 71:
cum se collegit (animus) atque recreavit, tum agnoscit illa reminiscendo,Cic. Tusc. 1, 24, 58:
quod mihi de filiā gratularis, agnosco humanitatem tuam,id. Fam. 1, 7 (cf. on the contr. id. ib. 5, 2, where Cic., speaking of himself, says: Cognosce nunc humanitatem meam, learn from this, etc.):
nomine audito extemplo agnovere virum,Liv. 7, 39:
veterem amicum,Verg. A. 3, 82:
matrem,id. ib. 1, 405: Figulum in patriam suam venisse atque ibi agnosci, and is there recognized (by those who had already known him), Quint. 7, 2, 26:
formas quasdam nostrae pecuniae agnoscunt,Tac. G. 5:
agnoscent Britanni suam causam,id. Agr. 32:
nitorem et altitudinem horum temporum agnoscimus,id. Or. 21:
quam (tunicam) cum agnovisset pater,Vulg. Gen. 37, 33.—
B Transf., as a result of this knowledge or recognition, to declare, announce, allow, or admit a thing to be one's own, to acknowledge, own: qui mihi tantum tribui dicis, quantum ego nec agnosco (neither can admit as due to me) nec postulo, Cic. Lael. 9:
natum,Nep. Ages. 1, 4:
Aeacon agnoscit summus prolemque fatetur Juppiter esse suam,Ov. M. 13, 27 (cf. in Pandects, 25, Tit. 3:
de agnoscendis vel alendis liberis): an me non agnoscetis ducem?will you not acknowledge me as your general? Liv. 6, 7:
agnoscere bonorum possessionem,to declare the property as one's own, to lay claim to it, Dig. 26, 8, 11 (cf. agnitio, I.):
agnoscere aes alienum,ib. 28, 5, 1:
facti gloriam,Cic. Mil. 14 fin.:
susciperem hoc crimen, agnoscerem, confiterer,id. Rab. Perd. 6:
fortasse minus expediat agnoscere crimen quam abnuere,Tac. A. 6, 8:
sortilegos,Cic. Div. 1, 58, 132: et ego ipse me non esse verborum admodum inopem agnosco, and I myself confess, allow, etc., id. Fam. 4, 4:
id ego agnovi meo jussu esse factum,id. ib. 5, 20, 3: carmina spreta exolescunt;
si irascare, agnita videntur,Tac. A. 4, 34.—
II To understand, recognize, know, perceive by, from, or through something:
ut deum agnoscis ex operibus ejus, sic ex memoriā rerum et inventione, vim divinam mentis agnoscito,Cic. Tusc. 1, 28, 70; id. Planc. 14, 35:
ex fructu arbor agnoscitur,Vulg. Matt. 12, 33:
inde agnosci potest vis fortunae,Vell. 2, 116, 3.—Also, absol.: Augusti laudes agnoscere possis, you can recognize the praises of Augustus, * Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 29:
accipio agnoscoque deos,Verg. A. 12, 260 (cf. accipio):
agniti dempsere sollicitudinem,Tac. H. 2, 68:
Germanicus, quo magis agnosceretur, detraxerat tegimen,id. A. 2, 21:
terram non agnoscebant,Vulg. Act. 27, 39.—In gen., to become acquainted with, to know; to perceive, apprehend, understand, discern, remark, see:
quin puppim flectis, Ulixe, Auribus ut nostros possis agnoscere cantus,Cic. Fin. 5, 18, 49 (as transl. of Hom. Od. 12, 185, *nh=a kata/sthson, i(/na nwi+te/rhn o)/p' a)kou/sh|s):
haec dicta sunt subtilius ab Epicuro quam ut quivis ea possit agnoscere,understand, id. N. D. 1, 18, 49; Verg. A. 10, 843; Phaedr. 2, 5, 19:
alienis pedibus ambulamus, alienis oculis agnoscimus,Plin. 29, 1, 8, § 19.