Recognise

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

• recognize (US)

Full definition of recognise

Verb

1. (transitive) To match something or someone which one currently perceives to a memory of some previous encounter with the same entity.
2. (transitive) To acknowledge the existence or legality of something; treat as worthy of consideration or valid.
   The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognise Kosovo on Monday.
3. (transitive) To acknowledge or consider as something.
• 2013-06-28, Joris Luyendijk, Our banks are out of control, Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic ….  Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. …  But the scandals kept coming, and so we entered stage three – what therapists call "bargaining". A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.
4. (transitive) To realise or discover the nature of something; apprehend quality in; realise or admit that.
• 1913, w, Lord Stranleigh Abroad Chapter 4, “… That woman is stark mad, Lord Stranleigh. Her own father recognised it when he bereft her of all power in the great business he founded. …”
5. (transitive) To give an award.

Anagrams

• congeries