recognizance

noun

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

"recognizance" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“recognizance” is uncommon English (frequency #67,779 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,779
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A form of bail; a promise made by the accused to the court that they will attend all required judicial proceedings and will not engage in further illegal activity or other prohibited conduct as set...

Corpus desk

Index EN-recognizance · recognizance · English

recognizance · rank #67,779 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,779
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH ratting

Nearest frequency peer: ratting (-2 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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “recognizance”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “recognizance” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for recognizance
PropertyValue
Headwordrecognizance
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Frequency rank#67,779
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “recognizance” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).recognizancelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “ratting” (#67,777), “rasping” (#67,776), “redaction” (#67,782). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

recognizance is uncommon English at frequency #67,779 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for recognizance in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English reconisaunce, from Old French reconissance. Doublet of reconnaissance. The correct English form is recognizance, spelled R-E-C-O-G-N-I-Z-A-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A form of bail; a promise made by the accused to the court that they will attend all required judicial proceedings and will not engage in further illegal activity or other prohibited conduct as set by the court.
  2. 2
    A token; a symbol; a pledge.
  3. 3
    Acknowledgment of a person or thing; avowal; profession; recognition.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The defendant was released on his own recognizance.
  2. That recognizance and pledge of love / Which I first gave her.

Etymology

From Middle English reconisaunce, from Old French reconissance. Doublet of reconnaissance.

This word in other languages

fianza(Español)

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 "recognizance"?
"recognizance" is spelled R-E-C-O-G-N-I-Z-A-N-C-E.
What does "recognizance" mean?
As a noun, "recognizance" means: A form of bail; a promise made by the accused to the court that they will attend all required judicial proceedings and will not engage in further illegal activity or other prohibited conduct as set...
What is the origin of the word "recognizance"?
From Middle English reconisaunce, from Old French reconissance. Doublet of reconnaissance. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 "recognizance", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Rappahannock#67,775postsynaptic#67,743Spitalfields#67,853monumentally#67,658

What to do next

You've looked up "recognizance". Here's where to go from here.

  • Usage frequency rank #67,779 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "R" letter cohort. R–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list