Meaning & Definition of Recognition in English

1. The state or quality of being recognized or acknowledged

• "The partners were delighted with the recognition of their work"

• "She seems to avoid much in the way of recognition or acknowledgement of feminist work prior to her own"

2. The process of recognizing something or someone by remembering

• "A politician whose recall of names was as remarkable as his recognition of faces"

• "Experimental psychologists measure the elapsed time from the onset of the stimulus to its recognition by the observer"

3. Approval

• "Give her recognition for trying"

• "He was given credit for his work"

• "Give her credit for trying"

4. Coming to understand something clearly and distinctly

• "A growing realization of the risk involved"

• "A sudden recognition of the problem he faced"

• "Increasing recognition that diabetes frequently coexists with other chronic diseases"

5. (biology) the ability of one molecule to attach to another molecule that has a complementary shape

• "Molecular recognition drives all of biology, for instance, hormone and receptor or antibody-antigen interactions or the organization of molecules into larger biologically active entities"

6. The explicit and formal acknowledgement of a government or of the national independence of a country

• "Territorial disputes were resolved in guatemala's recognition of belize in 1991"

7. An acceptance (as of a claim) as true and valid

• "The recognition of the rio grande as a boundary between mexico and the united states"

8. Designation by the chair granting a person the right to speak in a deliberative body

• "He was unable to make his motion because he couldn't get recognition by the chairman"