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.

   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.

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.

Other Word Forms

• recognitive adjective
• recognitional adjective
• recognitory adjective
• prerecognition noun
• unrecognitory 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

The movie likely benefited from its strong franchise recognition in China — Disney opened a “Zootopia”-themed land at Shanghai Disneyland in 2023 and embarked on an extensive marketing campaign before the film’s release.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

I was excited to see so many voices, new and familiar, dominate the 2024 nonfiction releases, showing that Latinas have played important roles in the Southern California story and deserve far more recognition.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"That recognition attests to the remarkable range and enduring impact of his work on both stage and screen," it said.

Read more on BBC

Arizona State, the University of Arizona and Oregon State have strong name recognition, actively recruit in California and feel less intimidating to students because they’re relatively close to home, she said.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Miles’ case underscores a stark contradiction: people whose ancestors inhabited this land for millennia can still be treated as outsiders, illustrating how legal recognition and federal enforcement often fail to align in practice.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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