RECOGNISE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does recognise mean? 

• RECOGNISE (verb)
  The verb RECOGNISE has 8 senses:

1. show approval or appreciation of

2. grant credentials to

3. detect with the senses

4. express greetings upon meeting someone

5. express obligation, thanks, or gratitude for

6. be fully aware or cognizant of

7. perceive to be the same

8. accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority

  Familiarity information: RECOGNISE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RECOGNISE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they recognise    ... he / she / it recognises   
Past simple: recognised   
Past participle: recognised   
-ing form: recognising   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Show approval or appreciation of

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

recognise; recognize

Context example:

The best student was recognized by the Dean

Hypernyms (to "recognise" is one way to...):

appreciate; prize; treasure; value (hold dear)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recognise"):

honor; honour; reward (bestow honor or rewards upon)

rubricate (place in the church calendar as a red-letter day honoring a saint)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Grant credentials to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

accredit; recognise; recognize

Context example:

recognize an academic degree

Hypernyms (to "recognise" is one way to...):

certify; licence; license (authorize officially)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Detect with the senses

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

discern; distinguish; make out; pick out; recognise; recognize; spot; tell apart

Context example:

I can't make out the faces in this photograph

"Recognise" entails doing...:

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recognise"):

resolve (make clearly visible)

discriminate (distinguish)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Express greetings upon meeting someone

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

greet; recognise; recognize

Hypernyms (to "recognise" is one way to...):

accost; address; come up to (speak to someone)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recognise"):

shake hands (take someone's hands and shake them as a gesture of greeting or congratulation)

bob; curtsy (make a curtsy; usually done only by girls and women; as a sign of respect)

salute (greet in a friendly way)

present; salute (recognize with a gesture prescribed by a military regulation; assume a prescribed position)

salute (honor with a military ceremony, as when honoring dead soldiers)

hail; herald (greet enthusiastically or joyfully)

receive; welcome (bid welcome to; greet upon arrival)

say farewell (say good-bye or bid farewell)

bid; wish (invoke upon)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 5

Meaning:

Express obligation, thanks, or gratitude for

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

acknowledge; recognise; recognize

Context example:

We must acknowledge the kindness she showed towards us

Hypernyms (to "recognise" is one way to...):

give thanks; thank (express gratitude or show appreciation to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recognise"):

appreciate (recognize with gratitude; be grateful for)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Be fully aware or cognizant of

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

agnise; agnize; realise; realize; recognise; recognize

Hypernyms (to "recognise" is one way to...):

cognise; cognize; know (be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recognise"):

know (know the nature or character of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sense 7

Meaning:

Perceive to be the same

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

recognise; recognize

Hypernyms (to "recognise" is one way to...):

call back; call up; recall; recollect; remember; retrieve; think (recall knowledge from memory; have a recollection)

"Recognise" entails doing...:

know (be familiar or acquainted with a person or an object)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "recognise"):

identify (consider to be equal or the same)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 8

Meaning:

Accept (someone) to be what is claimed or accept his power and authority

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

acknowledge; know; recognise; recognize

Context example:

We do not recognize your gods

Hypernyms (to "recognise" is one way to...):

accept (consider or hold as true)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

I would remind you of your lady's existence, sir, which the law recognises, if you do not.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

With a thrill I recognised the voice of that of my friend.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is not yet clear exactly how many genes these target, but the researchers have identified 191 genes with reasonable confidence; less than one in five of these had been previously recognised.

(Detailed genetic study provides most comprehensive map of risk to date of breast cancer risk, University of Cambridge)

I had long ago recognised the necessity, and begun to take off my coat, but he stopped me with a warning hand.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

HIV infects white blood cells known as T lymphocytes, particularly the CD4+ T cells that recognise infection and gets the immune system to respond.

(HIV seeks refuge in immune cells to avoid full elimination, SciDev.Net)

Wolf that he was, and unprecedented as it was, the gods had sanctioned his presence, and they, the dogs of the gods, could only recognise this sanction.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

But as I stood there she caught a glimpse of me, and I think that she recognised me.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She looked instinctively at Lady Russell; but not from any mad idea of her recognising him so soon as she did herself.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The team found that fathers share in traumatic memories of birth with their partners far more than has previously been recognised.

(Prenatal parental stress linked to behaviour problems in toddlers, University of Cambridge)

Three major families are recognised, the chaperonins (groEL and hsp60), the hsp70 family and the hsp90 family.

(Chaperone, NCI Thesaurus)