Recognize

How to spell recognize

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce recognize

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recognize mean?

1. verbTo identify someone or something as already known or previously encountered.
2. verbTo acknowledge or accept the existence, validity, or achievement of something officially.

Recognize in a sentence

• He did not recognize her without her glasses on.

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

• The software can recognize each fingerprint in under a second.

• Several nations refused to recognize the new government.

Where does recognize come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin recognoscere, meaning 'to know again' or 'to recall to mind', built from re- 'again' and cognoscere 'to come to know', which itself joins co- (an intensive 'thoroughly') with the old verb gnoscere 'to know'. English took it in through Old French reconuistre during the late Middle Ages, and the spelling was later tidied up to match the Latin parent, which is why the silent 'g' from cogn sits firmly in the middle. The same gnoscere root quietly survives in relatives like 'cognition', 'recognise' and even 'reconnaissance'. The modern senses, both spotting something familiar and formally acknowledging it, grow naturally out of that original idea of knowing a thing once more. The 'g' that nobody pronounces is the classic spelling trap, and it is a direct fossil of the Latin 'know' root.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• cogn (know, from Latin cognoscere)
• -ize (verb-forming suffix)

British and American spelling

Recognize is the American spelling. British English spells it recognise.