recognize.
To match (something or someone which one currently perceives) to a memory of some previous encounter with the same person or thing.
Meaning & usage
To match (something or someone which one currently perceives) to a memory of some previous encounter with the same person or thing.
I recognized his face immediately, although his voice was different.
To acknowledge the existence or legality of; to treat as valid or worthy of consideration.
The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognize Kosovo on Monday.
To acknowledge or consider (as being a certain thing or having a certain quality or property).
Slavery is widely recognized as immoral.
I recognize that my behaviour has been unacceptable.
To realize or discover the nature of something; apprehend quality in.
To show formal appreciation of, as with an award, commendation etc.
His services were recognized in a testimonial.
The soldier was recognized in dispatches.
To review; to examine again.
To reconnoiter.
To have the property to bind to specific antigens.
Where this word comes from
Borrowed from Middle French reconoistre, from Old French reconoistre, from Latin recognoscere, first attested in the 16th century. Displaced native English acknow (“to recognize, perceive as”), compare German erkennen and Swedish erkänna. Latin had rare recognizare (“to try by jury”).
to cognize again
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Italic *wre- Latin re-der. Old French re-bor. Middle English re- English re- English cognize English recognize From re- + cognize.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.