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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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

White dwarfs are generally much easier to recognize in ultraviolet light.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

“The way we’re approaching this is to first be extremely selective as to what kinds of businesses we’re investing in. And to recognize the probability of success is low,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

“Even if they have some of these biases, they recognize that they shouldn’t be telling the experimenter about those biases,” he explains.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

It was a Democratic president, Harry S. Truman, who made America the first nation to recognize the new state of Israel in 1948.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

While I did not recognize his face, I’d read plenty about him in the Chicago Press & Tribune.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

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

The majority no longer treats cloud providers primarily as recipients of information and instead recognizes how they increasingly resemble custodians of a person’s digital papers and effects.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026

Experts say investigators’ best bet to solving the case quickly would be if someone recognizes the suspect in Nest video footage, a masked man seen on Guthrie’s porch the morning she was abducted.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

He recognizes the car and shoots me a grin as we pass.

From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston

“The Court recognized what we’ve said from the beginning: California cannot fix consumer confusion by restricting truthful speech.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

The object is now recognized as the ninth closest white dwarf to the Sun.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

OpenAI pointed to independent research, which found that GPT-5.4, the model that previously powered ChatGPT, consistently recognized eating disorders and recommended evidence-based treatment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

In a separate case involving the Federal Reserve, however, the court recognized a different rule for Fed governors, pointing to the long historical independence of central banking institutions.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

By the tears in his eyes, I recognized two things: It was time for me to leave.

From "Not Nothing" by Gayle Forman

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

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

In 2022, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire during Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, recognizing Tyler’s contributions to music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 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’m sure that there are going to be a lot of people that are going to say we need to build something recognizing President Trump,” Burgum said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other’s chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

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