connaissance

Connaissance is a French noun meaning knowledge, awareness, or familiarity. It covers both abstract knowledge about a subject (mes connaissances en histoire) and practical familiarity with people, places, or things (j’ai une connaissance de ce quartier). It can also indicate awareness of a fact or situation, sometimes through experience (avoir connaissance de l’existence d’un problème).

Etymology: from Old French connaissance, from Latin cognoscere “to know, learn; perceive.”

Usage and nuance: Connaissance is distinct from the verbs connaître and savoir, and from their corresponding noun forms. Connaître is the verb to be familiar with someone or something; savoir is to know facts or how to do something. Thus, on peut dire: Je connais ce livre (I’m familiar with this book) vs Je sais où il est (I know where it is). In expression, avoir connaissance de qc means to be aware of something; mes connaissances en démocratie means my knowledge in the subject.

Acquaintances and knowledge: In everyday French, connaissances can also mean acquaintances (des connaissances) — people one knows socially. In formal or academic contexts, connaissances can denote a body of knowledge, as in connaissance scientifique or connaissances générales.

Philosophical use: In discussions of epistemology, connaissance is the standard French term for knowledge, including debates about justification and truth, paralleling the English concept of knowledge rather than mere acquaintance. It appears in intelligence and knowledge-management contexts as well.