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Is there a Latin word for "conception of truth" or "notion of truth" or a hybrid Graeco-Latin word for it? If not can such a word be termed or constructed for it? Or a phrase? How is it best translated?

I want to use it as "the conception/notion of truth of different cultures in different cultures is so....so...." I want to use the term as a meta-category of the way different people, civilisations, groups think about truth.

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    Can you be a little more specific by what you mean by "conception of truth"? Maybe provide a few example sentences so we get a sense of how you want to use it?
    – cmw
    Jun 14, 2021 at 17:50
  • @cmw I want to use it as "the conception/notion of truth of different cultures in different cultures is so....so...." I wan to use the term as a meta-category of the way different ppl, civilisations, groups think of truth. Jun 14, 2021 at 20:58

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I don't know of any single word that would mean that, but it can be easily expressed in Latin.

The word cognitio in certain contexts means:

A conception, notion, idea

This combined with the genitive form of veritas gives:

cognitio veritatis

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I think that Expedito Bipes's answer is spot on, but as is usual with Latin, there is more than one way to say it.

Sententia veritatis is another way to say it. It perhaps carries a slightly different connotation, leaning a little closer to "opinion of the truth", and maybe not as close to "understanding of the truth" as cognitio veritatis.

I'd also like to note that verum, literally, "a true thing", can also be used to mean "truth". So cognitio veri and sententia veri are also alternatives.

Another note worth mentioning is an idiom peculiar to Latin (as opposed to English) in that an abstract noun of a verb can often be replaced by a participle. So verum cognitum or verum sensum can be understood to mean the truth as conceived or the truth as learnt. If you go this route, you'll need to rely on context to tell whether verum cognitum means "conception of the truth" or "a truth conceived".

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