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Synonyms

recognize

American

[rek-uhg-nahyz] / ˈrɛk əgˌnaɪz /

especially British, recognise

verb (used with object)

to identify as something or someone previously seen, known, etc..

He had changed so much that one could scarcely recognize him.
to identify from knowledge of appearance or characteristics.

I recognized him from the description.
They recognized him as a fraud.
to perceive as existing or true; realize.

to be the first to recognize a fact.

Synonyms:

concede, grant, understand, appreciate, acknowledge
to acknowledge as the person entitled to speak at a particular time.

The Speaker recognized the congressman from Maine.
to acknowledge formally as entitled to treatment as a political unit.

The United States promptly recognized Israel.
to acknowledge or accept formally a specified factual or legal situation.

to recognize a successful revolutionary regime as the de facto government of the country.
to acknowledge or treat as valid.

to recognize a claim.
to acknowledge acquaintance with, as by a greeting, handshake, etc.
to show appreciation of (achievement, service, merit, etc.), as by some reward, public honor, or the like.
Law. to acknowledge (an illegitimate child) as one's own.
Biochemistry, Immunology. to bind with, cleave, or otherwise react to (another substance) as a result of fitting its molecular shape or a portion of its shape.

recognize British

/ ˈrɛkəɡˌnaɪz /

verb

to perceive (a person, creature, or thing) to be the same as or belong to the same class as something previously seen or known; know again
to accept or be aware of (a fact, duty, problem, etc)

to recognize necessity
to give formal acknowledgment of the status or legality of (a government, an accredited representative, etc)
to grant (a person) the right to speak in a deliberative body, debate, etc
to give a token of thanks for (a service rendered, etc)
to make formal acknowledgment of (a claim, etc)
to show approval or appreciation of (something good or pleasing)
to acknowledge or greet (a person), as when meeting by chance
(intr) to enter into a recognizance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of recognize

First recorded in 1425–75; recogn(ition) ( def. ) + -ize ( def. ); replacing late Middle English racunnysen, recognisen, from Old French reconuiss-, stem of reconuistre, from Latin recognōscere, equivalent to re- re- ( def. ) + cognōscere “to know ¹ ( def. ) ”; see cognition ( def. )

Explanation

When, at a meeting, you wave your hand wildly, you want to be recognized. When the chairperson finally says, “I recognize the man who is about to fall out of his seat,” don't forget what you wanted to say. The verb recognize comes from the Latin root words re (again) and cognoscere (to know) – literally “to know again” or “to identify.” If your own identical twin doesn't recognize you, you might be wearing too much makeup. Recognize can also mean “to acknowledge” or “to appreciate.” When you recognize the donors for their generous contributions to your fundraising event, your parents say, “You're welcome.”

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Vocabulary lists containing recognize

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The SAT: Multiple-Meaning Words, List 4

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

recognize recognizes recognized recognizing

Part of the problem, according to the letter, is that robotaxis often fail to recognize where they can stop without getting in the way.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

At the time, researchers did not recognize it as a tool.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 27, 2026

Movements argue about the Constitution, organize around it, and sometimes make claims powerful enough that courts later recognize them as law.

From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026

He didn’t recognize what those traumatic experiences he’d tried to bury did to him, not until he started to talk about them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

Silent, each seems to recognize something in the other.

From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

When the court recognizes Douglass as an author of the Reconstruction Amendments in Barbara, the court is “democratizing constitutional memory.”

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

To ensure the treatment reached prostate cancer cells, the team attached a targeting molecule that recognizes PSMA, a protein found on the surface of prostate tumor cells.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026

“By automatically applying penalty relief, the IRS recognizes that taxpayers who historically pay on time should not have to make a formal request for relief that is routinely granted,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026

Science recognizes that some people are “born with sex traits that don’t fit into typical male or female patterns,” to cite a discussion on the Cleveland Clinic web page on the topic “intersex.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026

Something in us recognizes the Cosmos as home.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

With the visibility of Dorothy, Marshall and future openly queer descendants, will a time come when LGBTQ+ perspectives are formally recognized at Monticello?

From Salon ● Jul. 27, 2026

Multiple other witnesses who were in the area that day saw the photos, recognized Stout and contacted CalFire.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

Asked how he could make the identification with much of the man’s face covered, Cooper said he had met YG “a lot” and recognized his eyes, body type, height, walk and demeanor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

The award for Tsimerman recognized his work, among other achievements, in helping to prove the André-Oort conjecture, a longstanding problem in geometry, the University of Toronto said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

“Balls are supposed to be kept outside,” Bat told the slightly smaller of the two big kids, a boy he recognized by the red glasses he wore.

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold

“I can’t turn on a television or watch a film without recognizing someone John coached, mentored or influenced,” Nesbitt said in his obituary.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

Even worse, recognizing the long con has degraded offline interactions as well.

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

The same categorization task was now being handled mainly by the temporal cortex, a region involved in memory and recognizing complex objects.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026

Handing over a business card, following an adviser on LinkedIn, recognizing an old face from your college days and, perhaps, doing business with them and remembering where you met is all part of the magic.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026

“I want to thank all of you for recognizing me and what I've been through. Y'all are being very kind to me. I'm just happy to be free.”

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023