Definition of "cognizance" [cog•ni•zance]

• Conscious knowledge or recognition; awareness. (noun)
• The range of what one can know or understand. (noun)
• Observance; notice: We will take cognizance of your objections at the proper time. (noun)
• Law Acknowledgment, recognition, or jurisdiction; the assumption of jurisdiction in a case. (noun)
• Heraldry A crest or badge worn to distinguish the bearer. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Clearly, under the law, the agency that has cognizance is the NBDB."
• "However, we have here much the same management of Paul's case as we had in the foregoing chapter; cognizance is here taken of it, I."
• "The first who came under his cognizance was a poor fellow just freed of a fever, which bad weakened him so much that he could hardly stand."