Recon

How to spell recon

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce recon

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recon mean?

1. nounA preliminary survey or scouting of an area to gather information, especially before an operation.
2. verbTo scout or survey a place in order to gather information.

Recon in a sentence

• noun

  The patrol carried out a quick recon of the valley before dawn.

• verb

  The team will recon the building to map every exit before the move.

• noun

  We did a recon of the venue a week before the wedding to check the parking.

• verb

  Managers were sent ahead to recon the new site for the warehouse.

Where does recon come from?

Language of origin: French

Recon is a twentieth century military clipping of reconnaissance, the longer word having entered English in the early 1800s from French. The French reconnaissance came from the verb reconnaître, meaning 'to recognise' or 'to survey', which itself traces back to the Latin recognoscere, built from re- (meaning 'again') and cognoscere (meaning 'to get to know' or 'to learn'). So at its root the word literally describes the act of getting to know a place again, that is, going out to examine ground or an enemy position before acting. The shortened form recon took hold in armed forces slang during the world wars, prized for its brevity in radio and field use, and it later spread into business and casual speech for any quick scouting trip. The same cognoscere root sits inside the everyday words 'recognise' and 'cognition', which is a useful reminder that recon is really about gaining knowledge.

How the word is built

• clipping of reconnaissance: re- (again)
• con- (from Latin cognoscere, to get to know)