connoissancen.
Obsolete.
At the time connoisseur was adopted in its art sense, there was an attempt also to introduce this word for the corresponding quality of special knowledge.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > [noun]
good tastea1400
sensea1616
epicurism1655
gusto1663
fancyc1665
sapience1667
taste1671
curiositya1684
niceness1698
gust1706
sensibility1735
connoissance1736
connoisseurship1749
tapinophoby1773
theoria1846
shibui1960
1736 N. Bailey et al. Dictionarium Britannicum (ed. 2) Connoissance, a solid and critical Judgment in any Art or Science; particularly in Painting, Sculpture, &c.
1756 T. Amory Life John Buncle I. 417 A great master on the fiddle, and very knowing in connoissance.
1780 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting (ed. 2) IV. i. 17 Being in search of a proper term for this science, Mr. Prior proposed to name it connoissance; but that word has not obtained possession as connoisseur has.
1860 G. A. Sala in Cornhill Mag. May 565 (note) Pope [? Prior] even proposed to found a science of ‘picture-tasting’, and to call it ‘connoissance’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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n.1736