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PlainSpell

recognize

/ˈɹɛk.əɡ.naɪz/verb

recognize is spelled R-E-C-O-G-N-I-Z-E. The wrong spelling people search most is reconize: about 200 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 18 of all searches for the word. Recognize is a verb meaning “To match (something or someone which one currently perceives) to a memory of some previous encounter with the…”.

How many letters and syllables are in recognize?

Letters9: R-E-C-O-G-N-I-Z-E
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched2; the most searched, reconize, about 200 Bing searches a month (all of them)
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How do you spell recognize?

Recognize is spelled R-E-C-O-G-N-I-Z-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 17 of the searches for recognize in either form.

recognizethe right spelling3,310 searches a month
reconizea missing g200 searches a month
recogizea missing n10 searches a month

Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.

How common is recognize?

Recognize appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce recognize?

  • /ˈɹɛk.əɡ.naɪz/
  • /ˈɹɛk.ɪɡ.naɪz/
  • /ˈɹɛk.ən.aɪz/

Recognize has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-recognize.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-recognize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with recognize

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

recognise vs recognize2,900 G

Also written: recognise, recognized.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of recognize

  • recognizes present, singular, he/she/it
  • recognizing participle, present
  • recognized participle, past
  • recognise
  • re-cognize

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does recognize mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    BritishUSTo match (something or someone which one currently perceives) to a memory of some previous encounter with the same person or thing.

    I recognized his face immediately, although his voice was different.

  2. 2

    BritishUSTo acknowledge the existence or legality of; to treat as valid or worthy of consideration.

    The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognize Kosovo on Monday.

  3. 3

    BritishUSTo acknowledge or consider (as being a certain thing or having a certain quality or property).

    Slavery is widely recognized as immoral.

  4. 4

    BritishUSTo realize or discover the nature of something; apprehend quality in.

  5. 5

    BritishUSTo show formal appreciation of, as with an award, commendation etc.

    His services were recognized in a testimonial.

  6. 6

    BritishUSobsoleteTo review; to examine again.

  7. 7

    BritishUSobsoleteTo reconnoiter.

  8. 8

    BritishUSTo have the property to bind to specific antigens.

  9. 9

    BritishUKUSto cognize again

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Recognize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchreconnaître (to match in memory; to know from a previous…)
Germanerkennen (to match in memory; to know from a previous…), anerkennen (to acknowledge the existence or legality of)
Portuguesereconhecer (to match in memory; to know from a previous…)
Spanishreconocer, identificar (to match in memory; to know from a previous…), homologar (to acknowledge the existence or legality of), cognocer (to realize or discover the nature of something)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does recognize come from?

Borrowed from Middle French reconoistre, from Old French reconoistre, from Latin recognoscere, first attested in the 16th century. Displaced native English acknow (“to recognize, perceive as”), compare German erkennen and Swedish erkänna. Latin had rare recognizare (“to try by jury”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after recognize