Etymograph

English

recognition

Recognition comes from Latin recognitiō, from recognōscō ‘to recognize’, from cognōscō ‘to know’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to know’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-1‘to know, recognise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱéti1‘to be getting to know’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnōskō1‘to know’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnōscō1‘to know’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognōscō1‘to know, recognize’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecognōscō1‘to recognize’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecognitus1‘recognized’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecognitiō1‘recognition, examination’
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600recognicion1‘recognition’
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recognicion1‘recognition’
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1900recognition1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English recognition
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1900, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, A Stranger from South Carolina: “Warwick observed, as they passed through the respectable quarter,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵneh₃-Wiktionary, English recognition‘to know, recognise’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵn̥h₃sḱétiWiktionary, English recognition‘to be getting to know’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gnōskōWiktionary, English recognition‘to know’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEgnōscōWiktionary, English recognition‘to know’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcognōscōWiktionary, English recognition‘to know, recognize’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecognōscōWiktionary, English recognition‘to recognize’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecognitusWiktionary, English recognition‘recognized’
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErecognitiōWiktionary, English recognition‘recognition, examination’
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600recognicionWiktionary, English recognition‘recognition’
  10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500recognicionWiktionary, English recognition‘recognition’
  11. Englishearliest quotation 1900recognitionWiktionary, English recognition. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1900, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, A Stranger from South Carolina: “Warwick observed, as they passed through the respectable quarter,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- ‘to recognise’

can, know, could, note, normal, notice, glory, narrative, noble, ken, ignore, keen, norm, ignorant, con, notorious, notion, diagnostic, nobility, cognitive, cunning, quaint, notoriety, prognosis, notation, gnome, narration, 104 more

Today it means

noun The act of recognizing or the condition of being recognized (matching a current observation with a memory of a prior observation of the same entity).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “recognition”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃- / recognition

Shirt and support for this word