Rec"og*nize (r&ebreve;k"&obreve;g*nīz), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Recognized (- nīzd); p. pr. & vb. n. Recognizing (- nī`z&ibreve;ng).] [From Recognizance; see Cognition, and cf. Reconnoiter.] [Written also recognise.] 1. To know again; to perceive the identity of, with a person or thing previously known; to recover or recall knowledge of.

Speak, vassal; recognize thy sovereign queen.

2. To avow knowledge of; to allow that one knows; to consent to admit, hold, or the like; to admit with a formal acknowledgment; as, to recognize an obligation; to recognize a consul.

3. To acknowledge acquaintance with, as by salutation, bowing, or the like.

4. To show appreciation of; as, to recognize services by a testimonial.

5. To review; to reëxamine. [Obs.] South.

6. To reconnoiter. [Obs.] R. Monro.

Syn. -- To acknowledge; avow; confess; own; allow; concede. See Acknowledge.

Rec"og*nize, v. i. (Law) To enter an obligation of record before a proper tribunal; as, A B recognized in the sum of twenty dollars. [Written also recognise.]

&fist; In legal usage in the United States the second syllable is often accented.

• (transitive) To match something or someone which one currently perceives to a memory of some previous encounter with the same entity.
  
• (transitive) Acknowledge the existence or legality of something.; treat as worthy of consideration or valid.
  
• (transitive) Acknowledge or consider as something.
  
• (transitive) Realize or discover the nature of something; apprehend quality in; realize or admit that.
  
• Cognize again.