recognise

/ˈɹɛkənaɪz/

//ˈɹɛkənaɪz// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"recognise" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“recognise” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,080. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,080
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of recognize.

Corpus desk

Index EN-recognise · recognise · English

recognise · rank #8,080 · 13 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,080
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH receipt

Nearest frequency peer: receipt (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “recognise”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “recognise” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

recognise vs recognize
89% similar
recognise vs recognized
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for recognise
PropertyValue
Headwordrecognise
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈɹɛkənaɪz/
Letters9
Frequency rank#8,080
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “recognise”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).recogniselands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “receipt” (#8,079), “reliability” (#8,081), “randy” (#8,078). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “recognise” is #8,080. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around recognise (IPA /ˈɹɛkənaɪz/), averb. Corpus frequency is #8,080 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of recognize.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for recognise, with forms such as "ercognise", "rceognise", and "reccognise". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "recognize", "recognized", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is recognise, spelled R-E-C-O-G-N-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of recognize.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how recognise appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. “[…] 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. […]”
  2. 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…

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ercognise
  • rceognise
  • reccognise
  • recgonise
  • recoggnise
  • recoginse
  • recognies
  • recognisse
  • recognnise
  • recognsie
  • recongise
  • reocgnise
  • rrecognise

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of recognise - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ercognise2rceognise2reccognise1recgonise2recoggnise1recoginse2recognies2recognisse1
Edit distance from "recognise"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "recognise"?
"recognise" is spelled R-E-C-O-G-N-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹɛkənaɪz/.
What does "recognise" mean?
As a verb, "recognise" means: Non-Oxford British English standard spelling of recognize.
What words are commonly confused with "recognise"?
"recognise" is commonly confused with "recognize", "recognized". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "recognise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "recognise" is /ˈɹɛkənaɪz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "recognise" come from?
"recognise" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "recognise", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

reviewing#8,084sculpture#8,087Wikipedia#8,106indicator#8,048

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

alcoholic13 variantsammunition13 variantsgratitude13 variantsclicking13 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list