Macmillan Dictionary

Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

recognize

 - definition
 
 
 
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb [transitive] [not usually progressive] British English pronunciation: recognize /ˈrekəɡnaɪz/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theyrecognize
he/she/itrecognizes
present participlerecognizing
past tenserecognized
past participlerecognized
Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

  1. 1
    to know who the person is or what the thing is that you are seeing, hearing etc because you have seen, heard etc them before

    I hardly recognized you with a beard!

    I recognized the house from your description.

    Asthma sufferers soon learn to recognize the symptoms of an attack.

    I thought I recognized the voice!

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recognize
  2. 2
    to accept that something is true or important

    Most fishermen recognize the need to limit fishing.

    The importance of Herschel's contribution is generally recognized.

    recognize (that):

    We recognize that there are some problems with the current system.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recognize
    1. a.
      to accept the authority or status of someone or something

      This credit card is recognized all over the world.

      recognize someone/something as something:

      He is recognized as the new champion.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recognize
    2. b.
      to officially agree that a country or organization exists

      Many countries refused to recognize Macedonia.

      Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recognize
  3. 3
    to give praise or approval to someone

    Today, her achievement was recognized with a civic reception.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of recognize

This is the British English definition of recognize. View American English definition of recognize.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

View the pronunciation for recognize.

 

caxirola

a percussion instrument used by football fans which makes a rattling sound when shaken

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

glean

to learn small pieces of information by asking questions or watching or listening carefully

Open Dictionary

pierce the corporate veil

… the decision to treat the rights and duties of a company as being the same as the rights and duties of its shareholders

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog