recollection
Americannoun
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recollections
plural
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the act or power of recollecting, or recalling to mind; remembrance.
-
something that is recollected.
recollections of one's childhood.
noun
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the act of recalling something from memory; the ability to remember
-
something remembered; a memory
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of recollection
1635–45; < French récollection or Medieval Latin recollēctiōn- (stem of recollēctiō ), equivalent to recollēct ( us ) ( see recollect) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Recollection is either the process of remembering something or a specific memory. If someone says, "To the best of my recollection, I never met Ted," they're saying they tried to remember Ted and couldn’t. Basically, your memory is your recollection. You can also say your memories are recollections. You could have a recollection of a baseball game on your birthday. If you know that collecting is to gather things, it makes sense that recollecting is like the process of gathering your memories.
Vocabulary lists containing recollection
The Cay
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The Things They Carried
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Farewell to Manzanar
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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:
New research suggests that this kind of recollection may involve more than the brain alone.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
"I'm saying that their recollection of the conversation is different from mine."
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
Add to this the recollection of that magical moment when the cult members realized they were in a cult.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
Winning the Oscar for “The Accidental Tourist” was a more pleasant recollection for Davis, although she was thrown by a bizarre incident as she was relaxing a few hours before the ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
My recollection of the landscape flies through my head.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
Throughout his recollections, he renders chemistry in physical and intimate terms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Many of Mr. Coppola’s recollections are sensory: roasted peppers, his grandma’s sizzling meatballs, a neighbor’s homemade wine sweetened with peaches—“smells and tastes that intoxicate me to this day.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Every time England meet Norway, Lillelien will be remembered with affection by everyone except those who still have to suffer those painful recollections.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Florence could not remember every detail, including exactly where her boyfriend was seated, but she has detailed recollections of other aspects of the meeting.
From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2026
This new order of things disgusted him, and he howled dismally for ‘Marmar’, as his angry passions subsided, and recollections of his tender bondwoman returned to the captive autocrat.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
