recollect

verb rec·ol·lect \ ˌre-kə-ˈlekt \

Updated on: 20 Apr 2018

Definition of recollect

transitive verb

1 : to bring back to the level of conscious awareness : remember

trying to recollect the name

2 : to remind (oneself) of something temporarily forgotten

intransitive verb

: to call something to mind

See recollect defined for English-language learners

See recollect defined for kids

Examples of recollect in a Sentence

I've been trying to recollect what happened.
I don't recollect telling him anything, but maybe I did.
She couldn't recollect who had mentioned his name in the first place.
From what I recollect, they said four of them were coming.

Recent Examples of recollect from the Web

What's worth recollecting, both now and at the June 21 draft, is that the deal for Dragic was made when Chris Bosh had yet to learn of his blood clots and with the Heat still taking a long view with Dwyane Wade.

— ira winderman, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Winderman: Heat survive Part I of Dragic payment plan | Commentary," 14 Apr. 2018
Paul Theroux, award-winning author of more than 50 volumes of travel writing, fiction, essays, and children's literature, was the featured speaker, recollecting different travel memories surrounding reading.

— joy sewing, Houston Chronicle, "Inprint's Poets & Writers Ball brings in $400,000," 19 Feb. 2018
Saint Mary’s: The Gaels can recollect after their home loss knowing all of their goals for the season are still attainable. 3.

— molly geary, SI.com, "Power Rankings: Michigan State Leads New-Look Top 25," 14 Feb. 2018
Lawyers from the Indiana Attorney General's office said any statute of limitations would only apply at earliest in 2015, when accusations first surfaced against both men — or last year when their office filed a civil lawsuit to recollect the money.

— meredith colias-pete, Post-Tribune, "Lawyer: Statute of limitations should apply for ex-Munster school officials accused of receiving $850K in over-payments," 25 Jan. 2018
When Southern style has been recalled/recollected there were always polarities that would emerge.

— stephanie granada, Southern Living, "75 Most Stylish Southerners," 7 Feb. 2014
Boehner was quite salty – even at times sounding bitter – when discussing what's happened to the Republican Party and recollecting his time in Washington.

— jason williams, USA TODAY, "See what John Boehner had to say in f-bomb-laden, salty interview," 30 Oct. 2017
Boehner was quite salty – even at times sounding bitter – when discussing what's happened to the Republican Party and recollecting his time in Washington.

— jason williams, Cincinnati.com, "PX: See what John Boehner had to say in f-bomb-laden, salty interview," 30 Oct. 2017
As works of art, the Vietnam War comics are only one of many places the Vietnam War has been restaged, remembered and recollected.

— Smithsonian, "How Comics Captured America’s Opinions About the Vietnam War," 21 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'recollect.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of recollect

Medieval Latin recollectus, past participle of recolligere, from Latin, to gather again

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1559

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

recollect Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of recollect

remember, recollect, recall, remind, reminisce mean to bring an image or idea from the past into the mind. remember implies a keeping in memory that may be effortless or unwilled.