# recognition

Pronunciation: say "rek-uhg-NISH-uhn" /ˌɹɛkəɡˈnɪʃən/

## Noun

1. The act of knowing a person or thing again by matching what you observe now with a memory of having observed it before.
   - Simple: The act of knowing someone or something because you have seen them before.
   - _A slow recognition dawned on him as he realized they had met years earlier._
   - _The witness's recognition of the suspect was immediate and certain._
2. Honor, favorable notice, or attention given to a person for their work or achievements.
   - Simple: Praise or attention given to someone for what they have done.
   - _His research earned him recognition from scientists around the world._
   - _The volunteers received public recognition at the town ceremony._
3. Acceptance or acknowledgment of something as valid, true, or legitimate.
   - Simple: Agreeing that something is true, real, or correct.
   - _The theory slowly gained recognition among scholars as the evidence mounted._
   - _Recognition of her foreign qualifications allowed her to practice medicine here._
4. Official acceptance by one country's government of the status of a newly formed government in another country.
   - Simple: When one country officially accepts a new government of another country as real and legal.
   - _Diplomatic recognition of the new state came within weeks of its declaration of independence._
   - _The council debated whether to extend recognition to the government that had seized power._
5. The property by which antibodies bind to certain specific antigens and not to others.
   - Simple: The way the body's defense cells lock onto one specific germ and not others.
   - _Antibody recognition of a specific antigen triggers the immune response._
   - _The recognition between antibody and antigen depends on a precise molecular fit._
6. In Scots law, the return of a feu to the superior: the lord from whom the land was held.
   - Simple: In old Scottish law, the giving back of held land to the lord who owned it.
   - _The superior pursued recognition of the feu after the vassal sold it without consent._
   - _Upon the vassal's default, recognition restored the lands to the superior._

## Origin

It comes from Middle English 'recognicion', taken from Middle French 'recognicion' and its Latin source 'recognitiōnem' (from 'recognitiō'), which derives from 'recognitus', the past participle of 'recognōscere'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/recognition (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).