The act or state of acknowledging or recognizing something, especially in legal contexts; awareness or knowledge of a fact.
From Old French 'conusance,' derived from Latin 'cognoscere' meaning 'to know.' The word evolved through Middle English legal terminology to mean formal acknowledgment or recognition of a legal claim or fact.
This word is almost extinct in modern English but survives in ancient legal documents—it represents a time when the exact words used in court had to precisely show that someone truly *knew* about something before they could be held responsible for it.
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