Main Entry: rec·og·ni·tion

Pronunciation: \ˌre-kig-ˈni-shən, -kəg-\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English recognicion, from Anglo-French recognition, from Latin recognition-, recognitio, from recognoscere

Date: 15th century

1 : the action of recognizing : the state of being recognized: as a : acknowledgment; especially : formal acknowledgment of the political existence of a government or nation b : knowledge or feeling that someone or something present has been encountered before
2 : special notice or attention
3 : the sensing and encoding of printed or written data by a machine <optical character recognition> <magnetic ink character recognition>