Recognise

How to spell recognise

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce recognise

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recognise mean?

1. verbTo identify someone or something as already known from before.
2. verbTo formally acknowledge or officially accept the existence, validity, or worth of something.

Recognise in a sentence

• I did not recognise her at first because she had changed her hair.

• The new government refused to recognise the disputed border.

• The software can recognise a face in a crowded photograph.

• The company will recognise years of loyal service with a small ceremony.

Where does recognise come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin recognoscere, which meant 'to know again' or 'to recall to mind', built from re- meaning 'again' and cognoscere meaning 'to get to know', itself a compound of co- 'thoroughly' and gnoscere 'to know'. English took it up in the fifteenth century by way of Old French reconoistre, at first in the legal and official sense of formally acknowledging a fact or a right. Over time the everyday meaning of identifying something or someone seen before grew alongside the formal one. The same gnoscere root sits inside relatives such as 'cognition', 'incognito', and 'note', so the buried letter g is a family signature rather than a random quirk. The -ise ending follows the French -iser pattern that British English favours, which is exactly why writers who are surrounded by the American -ize form so often hesitate over the final letters.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• cogn (from Latin cognoscere: to know)
• -ise (verb-forming suffix)

British and American spelling

Recognise is the British spelling. American English spells it recognize.