Where does “recognize” come from?
Recognize comes from Latin recognoscere, formed from the prefix re- meaning "again" and cognoscere meaning "to know," ultimately from com meaning "together" and gnoscere meaning "to know."
recognize (English): To match to a memory of some previous encounter...
Definitions
- To match to a memory of some previous encounter...
Ancestry of “recognize”, step by step
recognize traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English cognize
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | cognize | To know, perceive, or become aware of; To make... |
| 2 | English | cognizance | An emblem, badge or device, used as a... |
| 3 | Old French | conysance | recognition," later, "knowledge |
| 4 | Old French | conoissance | knowledge |
| 5 | Old French | conoistre | to know; to recognize |
| 6 | Latin | cognōscere | — |
| 7 | Latin | co- | allomorph of con- |
| 8 | Latin | cōn- | Used in compounds to indicate a being or bringing together of several objects |
| 9 | Latin | cum | with, along with; at; -fold |
| 10 | Old Latin | com | Alternative form of cum |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | kom | with, along, at |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱóm | beside, near, by, with |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱe | Deictic particle, here; Post-positional... |
| 14 | Middle English | kyt | — |
| 15 | German | kitt | putty certain kinds of cement used for fixing e.g. window panes |
| 16 | Old High German | kuti | — |
| 17 | Proto-West Germanic | kwidu | gum, resin |
| 18 | Proto-Germanic | kweduz | resin |
| 19 | Proto-Indo-European | gʷet- | resin, gum; to say, speak |
| 20 | Proto-Indo-European | gū- | to bend; curve; arch; vault; to bow, bend, arch,... |
via Old French reconoistre
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | reconoistre | to recognize |
| 2 | Latin | recognosco | I know again, recollect, recall to mind,... |