nearcognate

Nearcognate, or near-cognate, is a term used in historical and comparative linguistics to describe a pair of words in different languages that resemble each other in form and meaning but are not clearly derived from a single inherited ancestor. Near-cognates can arise through borrowing from a common source into multiple languages, through parallel development from a shared protoform with irregular sound changes, or by chance resemblance that is reinforced by semantic similarity.

They are distinguished from true cognates by lacking demonstrable regular correspondences that would link their forms to a known ancestral word. True cognates share an explicit etymology and regular phonological correspondences; near-cognates may be only weakly related, or their relationship may be uncertain, obscured by language contact, borrowing, or divergent evolution.

In practice, the distinction matters for etymology, lexicography, and language learning, since near-cognates can mislead learners into assuming a direct relationship. The term is used cautiously, and some scholars prefer labeling such pairs as possible or hypothesized cognates rather than true cognates. Near-cognates highlight how languages influence each other and how form and meaning can converge without a clear, shared ancestry.

See also: cognate, false friend, loanword, semantic shift.