Difference Between Innate and Enate

These are two similar sounding words which differ in meaning.

Innate means inborn or natural.  An innate ​quality or ​ability is one that you were ​ born with, not one you have ​learned.  An innate quality exists from the time a person or animal is born.   Examples are below:

• Unlike her sisters who adore children, Sue does not have an innate desire to raise a family.  (Unlike other women, Sue is not born with a desire for children.)

• While Jean is naturally shy, her sister has the innate ability to charm everyone she meets. (Jean’s sister has a natural inborn ability to charm everyone.)

• Dogs have an innate sense of loyalty to their masters. (Dogs are born with a sense of loyalty.)

• Sarah’s innate piano talent helped her play complicated pieces before she was six years of age.  (Sarah’s inborn piano talent helped her play complicated pieces from an early age.)

• He suffered from heart disease which was a result of innate genetic defects. (He was born with defects in the heart.)

• Is leadership an innate quality or can it be taught to those who aspire to greatness?  (Is leadership a quality one is born with or can it be taught?)

• Penguins are born with the innate inclination to live together.  (Penguins are born with a natural and instinctive inclination to live together.)

• Cruelty and treachery seem innate in the behaviour of terrorists.  (Terrorists seem to born with traits of cruelty and treachery.)

• While some people have an innate drive to succeed, others are happy doing nothing with their lives.  (Some people have a natural urge to succeed, while others are happy doing nothing with their lives.)

• Her every waking moment is spent in trying to satisfy her innate desire for knowledge.  (She has an inborn thirst for knowledge.)  

• Mahatma Gandhi had an innate modesty and simplicity of character. (Mahatma Gandhi had an inborn modesty and simplicity of character.) 

• Paul’s most ​impressive ​quality was his innate ​goodness.  (Paul’s greatest quality was his natural goodness.)

On the other hand, “enate” is a noun meaning a relative whose relationship is traced only through female members of the family.  For instance, a great grandmother is an enate if she is your mother’s mother’s mother!

Enate also means related to someone by female connections or maternal side of the family.

Some examples:

• My enate Aunt gave me a gorgeous pearl necklace for my birthday.  (My mother’s sister gave me a gorgeous pearl necklace for my birthday.)

• He is very fond of his enate cousin called Sheila.  (He is very fond of his mother’s sister’s daughter called Sheila.)

• John is Sheila’s enate cousin.  (John’s mother and Sheila’s mother are sisters.)

• There is a tribe in India whose inheritance is passed on to enate female members only.  (There is a tribe in India whose inheritance is passed on to female members from the mother’s side only.)

• My enate grandfather left his estate to his daughter.  (My mother’s father left his estate to his daughter.)

• I have fifty-two enate cousins.  (I have fifty-two cousins who are children of my mother’s brothers and sisters.)

• Harry’s enate grandfather emigrated from Italy fifty years ago.  (Harry’s mother’s father emigrated from Italy fifty yeats ago.)

•  Enate relatives are usually closer than agnate ones.  (Relatives from one’s mother’s side are usually closer than those from the father’s side.)

• Since my mother was an only child, I have no enate cousins.  (Since my mother was an only child, I have no cousins from her side of the family.)

• Maria’s enate aunt left her a fortune.  (Maria’s mother’s sister left her a fortune.)

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