Which of the following is an example of a cognate?

Cognates are words that have a common etymological origin, and they typically share meanings across languages, often due to historical language connections. The pair "composition" and "composite" exemplifies this concept well as both terms derive from the Latin root "componere," which means "to put together." They are related not only in their roots but also in their meanings, as both involve ideas of combination and structure. Recognizing that these words come from the same linguistic background and have overlapping meanings helps students understand how cognates function across different contexts and languages.

The other choices represent words that do not have this shared etymological history. For instance, "dog" and "cat" are two completely different animals with no linguistic links. "Run" and "ran" are different forms of the same verb but do not share an origin with each other in the context of cognates, as they are adaptive forms of the same word rather than distinct words derived from a common root. Similarly, "happy" and "sadness" contrast in meaning and do not share a linguistic ancestry that would classify them as cognates.