recognize

1. (transitive) To match (something or someone which one currently perceives) to a memory of some previous encounter with the same person or thing.Examples: "I recognized his face immediately, although his voice was different."; "He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days, and he felt a genuine thrill of pleasure when he recognized the red bandana turban of old Aunt Lyddy, the ancient negro woman who had sold him gingerbread and fried fish, and told him weird tales of witchcraft and conjuration, in the old days when, as an idle boy, he had loafed about the market-house."; "Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak."Synonyms: placeBritishEnglishOxfordUStransitive

2. (transitive) To acknowledge the existence or legality of; to treat as valid or worthy of consideration.Examples: "The US and a number of EU countries are expected to recognize Kosovo on Monday."BritishEnglishOxfordUStransitive

3. (transitive, or with clause) To acknowledge or consider (as being a certain thing or having a certain quality or property).Examples: "Slavery is widely recognized as immoral."; "I recognize that my behaviour has been unacceptable."BritishEnglishOxfordUStransitive

4. (transitive) To realize or discover the nature of something; apprehend quality in.Examples: "In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual."BritishEnglishOxfordUStransitive

5. (transitive) To show formal appreciation of, as with an award, commendation etc.Examples: "His services were recognized in a testimonial."; "The soldier was recognized in dispatches."BritishEnglishOxfordUStransitive

6. (obsolete) To review; to examine again.Examples: "We do moste humbly submytte it [this treatise] to[…]your maiestie, to be recognised, ouersene, and corrected."BritishEnglishOxfordUSobsolete