connoisseur Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an expert able to appreciate a field; especially in the fine arts
    cognoscente.

WordNet

Con`nois*seur" noun
Etymology
F. connaisseur, formerly connoisseur, fr. connaître to know, fr. L. cognoscere to become acquainted with; co- + noscere, gnoscere, to learn to know. See Know, amd cf. Cognizor.
Definitions
  1. One well versed in any subject; a skillful or knowing person; a critical judge of any art, particulary of one of the fine arts.
    The connoisseur is "one who knows," as opposed to the dilettant, who only "thinks he knows." Fairholt.

Webster 1913