co·gno·scen·te
\ˌkän-yə-ˈshen-tē, ˌkäg-nə-, -ˈsen-\
noun
: a person who has expert knowledge in asubject : connoisseur
Other forms: plural co·gno·scen·ti\-tē\
Examples
a cognoscente of medieval paintingcognoscenti in the art world knew that mostof the works being auctioned off weresecond-rate stuff
Origin: obsolete Italian (now conoscente),from cognoscente, adjective, wise, from Latincognoscent-, cognoscens, present participle ofcognoscere.
First use: 1776
Synonyms: connoisseur, dilettante
Antonyms: amateur, inexpert, nonexpert