recognize
Americanverb (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.
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
Other Word Forms
- nonrecognized adjective
- prerecognize verb (used with object)
- quasi-recognized adjective
- recognizability noun
- recognizable adjective
- recognizably adverb
- recognizer noun
- unrecognizable adjective
- unrecognizably adverb
- unrecognized adjective
- unrecognizing adjective
- well-recognized adjective
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. ) ”; cognition ( def. )
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.
“We have to recognize that they consider themselves as in a conflict with us, and therefore we have to stick together and do what is needed,” she said.
Advances in technology and fresh scientific perspectives made it possible to recognize species that had long gone unnoticed.
From Science Daily
Gelman’s second category is “hard-core innumeracy,” or “quantitative statements that don’t even require a moment’s reflection to recognize as absolutely ridiculous.”
From Los Angeles Times
“It shocked me at first when he took off,” says his daughter, Dayla, whose regular appearances in the videos now get her recognized in public.
Shocked quartz has long been recognized as a sign of extreme heat and pressure from cosmic impacts.
From Science Daily
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
