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recognizable

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Etymology and origin of the English word recognizable

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1682 H. Care, English Liberties
Ultimate origin
Latin recognōscō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English recognize
English recognizable

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈrekəɡnaɪzəb(ə)l/, /ˌrekəɡˈnaɪzəb(ə)l/[1]
  • US: /ˈrekəɡnaɪzəb(ə)l/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English recognize + -able.[2][3] The verb recognize goes back to recognisen, from Old French reconoistre (“to know again”), from Latin recognōscō (“to know again, recall to mind”), formed from re- (“again”) and cognōscō (“to get to know”).[4][3] The OED compares Old French reconoisable, recorded about 1100, the ancestor of the modern French adjective.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to be recognized or identified: the OED's first quotation is from H. Care's English Liberties, probably of 1682.[2]

Semantic evolution

The sense has stayed the same since the first record.[2][5] Etymonline dates the word to 1751, glossing it "able to be recognized, capable of being known and acknowledged".[3] The first edition of the OED had it only from 1799,[6] and the revised entry of 2009 moved the first record back to about 1682.[2] The adverb recognizably and the noun recognizability followed.[3] In British English it is also spelled recognisable.[5][1]

Timeline

  • c. 1682 – able to be recognized or identified.[2]
  • 1751 – the date given by Etymonline.[3]
  • 1799 – the first record in the first edition of the OED.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Able to be recognized or identified: After ten years abroad she was hardly recognizable.[5][2][1]

Word family

  • recognizably
  • recognizability

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Recognizable.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/recognizable. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·