recollect
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to recall to mind; recover knowledge of by memory; remember.
- Antonyms:
- forget
-
to absorb (oneself ) in spiritual meditation, especially during prayer.
verb (used without object)
verb
Synonym Usage
See remember.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
recollectivenessnoun
-
misrecollectverb
-
nonrecollectiveadjective
-
recollectiveadjective
-
self-recollectiveadjective
-
unrecollectiveadjective
-
recollectivelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
recollectsimple
-
recollectssimple
-
have recollectedperfect
-
has recollectedperfect
-
am recollectingprogressive
-
are recollectingprogressive
-
is recollectingprogressive
-
have been recollectingperfect progressive
-
has been recollectingperfect progressive
Past
-
recollectedsimple
-
had recollectedperfect
-
was recollectingprogressive
-
were recollectingprogressive
-
had been recollectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of recollect
First recorded in 1550–60; from Medieval Latin recollēctus, past participle of recolligere “to remember, recollect” ( Latin: “to gather up again”); see re-, collect 1
Explanation
To recollect is to remember. You might struggle to recollect your high school French but have no trouble recollecting every ingredient in your dad's cinnamon roll recipe. If you ask your grandfather to recollect his experiences in high school, you want him to remember some great stories from his youth. The Latin root word, recolligere, means "to collect again," from the prefix re, "again," and colligere, "gather or collect." You can think of recollect as meaning "to gather again from your memory."
Vocabulary lists containing recollect
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 16–19
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Unit 2: Pivotal Words and Phrases
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Vocabulary: A Rapper's Delight!
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
We made a registry to allow our friends and family to help us recollect the basics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
Those are words that penetrate, ones that recollect certain names and call forth our senses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 2026
Mountbatten-Windsor said at the time: "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken."
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
I recollect that my mother left her jewelry box and its contents to me.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 4, 2025
I could recollect having promised some God or other, more than once, that if I could only have Anatole back I would never ask for another thing on this earth.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Chef Suvir Saran recollects how his restaurant in New York began infusing naan with spinach, gouda and mushrooms.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
“It was a visceral, magnificent moment that made me feel connected,” he recollects with the calm intensity of someone deeply in love with a tree.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2023
She recollects watching the 2015 All Star Game with her granddad.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2023
“Cokeville recollects ‘miracle’ of 1986,” Deseret News, May 15, 2006.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2022
“Terryl, say good-bye to your little brother,” she recollects him saying.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Happily, Mr. Hamilton, who retains his boyish handsomeness, infuses this recollected ardor with convincing feeling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
As Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell recollected in a speech last month, “the good ship Transitory was a crowded one, with most mainstream analysts and advanced-economy central bankers on board.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024
The couple married in 1959 — Nancy, she later recollected, took three days to say yes after he proposed.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2024
And even if it is recollected, mechanical recycling struggles with mixed waste streams.
From Slate ● Nov. 24, 2023
Then, desperately trying to control himself, he recollected how he had worked his father’s fields.
From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi
Greene nearly swooned recollecting the interaction in an interview afterward.
From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2024
Queen Camilla empathised with Mr Oborne, telling him: "It must be very difficult recollecting it all."
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2024
“We were scared out of our wits,” Dr. Breman, recollecting his pioneer mission, told a National Institutes of Health newsletter in 2014, as a new and even deadlier Ebola outbreak raged that year.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2024
Like the Sto:lo, many Coast Salish groups in the Pacific Northwest have oral traditions recollecting dogs whose coiled undercoats were spun into fibers and woven into elaborately patterned blankets.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 13, 2023
He scowled at first; then, as if recollecting something, he said—
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
