recognition

[ rek-uhg-nish-uhn ]

noun

1. an act of recognizing or the state of being recognized.
2. the identification of something as having been previously seen, heard, known, etc.
3. the perception of something as existing or true; realization.
4. the acknowledgment of something as valid or as entitled to consideration:

   the recognition of a claim.

5. the acknowledgment of achievement, service, merit, etc.

   Synonyms: acceptance, notice

6. the expression of this in the form of some token of appreciation:

   This promotion constitutes our recognition of her exceptional ability.

7. formal acknowledgment conveying approval or sanction.
8. acknowledgment of right to be heard or given attention:

   The chairman refused recognition to any delegate until order could be restored.

9. Psychology. the act or process of retrieving information previously encoded and stored in memory, when cued with the targeted information itself: Compare recall ( def 9 ), retrieval ( def 3 ).

   The paper studies the effect of storytelling on English learners’ recognition of vocabulary words.

10. International Law. an official act by which one state acknowledges the existence of another state or government, or of belligerency or insurgency.
11. the automated conversion of information, as words or images, into a form that can be processed by a machine, especially a computer or computerized device. Compare optical character recognition ( def ), pattern recognition ( def ).
12. Biochemistry. the responsiveness of one substance to another based on the reciprocal fit of a portion of their molecular shapes.

recognition

/ ˌrɛkəɡˈnɪʃən; rɪˈkɒɡnɪtɪv /

noun

1. the act of recognizing or fact of being recognized
2. acceptance or acknowledgment of a claim, duty, fact, truth, etc
3. a token of thanks or acknowledgment
4. formal acknowledgment of a government or of the independence of a country
5. an instance of a chairman granting a person the right to speak in a deliberative body, debate, etc

recognition

1. In diplomacy, the act by which one nation acknowledges that a foreign government is a legitimate government and exchanges diplomats with it. The withholding of recognition is a way for one government to show its disapproval of another.

Derived Forms

• recognitive, adjective

Other Words From

• rec·og·ni·tion·al adjective
• re·cog·ni·tive [ri-, kog, -ni-tiv], re·cog·ni·to·ry [ri-, kog, -ni-tawr-ee], adjective
• pre·rec·og·ni·tion noun
• un·re·cog·ni·to·ry adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of recognition¹

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English recognicion, either from Old French or directly from Latin recognitiōn- (stem of recognitiō ), equivalent to recognit(us) (past participle of recognōscere; recognize ) + -iōn- -ion

Word History and Origins

Origin of recognition¹

C15: from Latin recognitiō , from recognoscere to know again, from re- + cognoscere to know, ascertain

Example Sentences

In 2018, four software engineers set up a company in Ghana to address this limitation of facial recognition software.

From Quartz

Perhaps no esports organization has more clout or recognition than FaZe Clan.

From TechCrunch

If you are a setup based on any of the online business ideas, this can increase the sales as well as the overall recognition and reputation of your company.

From Search Engine Watch

So, he was able to get a lot of recognition and coverage without having to spend that much on advertising.

From Freakonomics

This trend of voice search on smartphones continues to rise – all thanks to advances in speech recognition technology.

From Search Engine Watch

His hunger strike in December 2011 received nation-wide recognition and was one of the sparks that ignited the protest movement.

From The Daily Beast

In a recent interview with Britain's The Sunday Times, Sola Jimenez said all he wants is recognition.

From The Daily Beast

“It has yet to receive the recognition it deserves,” said Richardson.

From The Daily Beast

Some heads nodded in recognition of this, others look startled.

From The Daily Beast

This was the act of an organized group seeking international recognition, moral equivalency, and money.

From The Daily Beast

Recognition of the pneumococcus depends upon its morphology, the fact that it is Gram-staining, and the presence of a capsule.

From Project Gutenberg

The early recognition of pictured objects, of which certain animals have a measure, is often strikingly discerning.

From Project Gutenberg

Any moment, if he looked up, he would meet eyes—eyes that gazed with dim yet definite recognition into his own across the night.

From Project Gutenberg

Recognition of these staining properties marked the beginning of modern hematology.

From Project Gutenberg

The recognition did not lessen the reality, the poignancy of the revelation by any suggestion or promise of instability.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• acceptance
• admission
• appreciation
• awareness
• concession
• perception
• realization
• respect
• understanding