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reconnaissance

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Etymology and origin of the French word reconnaissance

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100 Chanson de Roland More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Latin recognōscō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin nōscō
Latin cognōscō
French connaître
Latin recognōscō
French reconnaître
French reconnaissance
English reconnaissance
Italian riconoscere
Spanish reconocer
From the same root
Italian nobile ← nōscō
Latin agnōscō ← nōscō
Latin dīnōscō ← nōscō
Latin internōscō ← nōscō
Latin nōbilis ← nōscō
Latin nōscitō ← nōscō
Latin nōtiō ← nōscō
Latin nōtus ← nōscō
Latin pernosco ← nōscō
English cognizant ← cognōscō
Latin accognōscō ← cognōscō
Latin cognitiō ← cognōscō
Latin cognitivus ← cognōscō
Latin cognitor ← cognōscō
Latin cognitus ← cognōscō
Latin cognōmentum ← cognōscō
Latin cognōscēns ← cognōscō
Latin cognōscentia ← cognōscō
French connaissance ← connaître
Latin recognitiō ← recognōscō
Latin recognizō ← recognōscō
Latin recognōscentia ← recognōscō

Pronunciation

  • /ʁə.kɔ.nɛ.sɑ̃s/[1]
  • /ʁə.kɔ.ne.sɑ̃s/[1]

Forms

reconnaissance f (plural reconnaissances)[1] Old French reconuisance (about 1100), reconissance (about 1190) and reconoissance (about 1260), Middle French reconnoissance (1538).[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French reconnaître + -ance, on the stem of the present participle reconnaissant.[4][1][3][2] The verb goes back to Latin recognōscō (“to recognize, to review”), and its history ran parallel to that of connaître.[5] Wiktionary compares Medieval Latin recognōscentia (“a recognizing, acknowledgement”) and Italian riconoscenza;[1] Littré adds Old Occitan reconaissensa, Portuguese reconhecença and Walloon riknohanss.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Chanson de Roland (about 1100) Charlemagne cries Munjoie! pur la reconuisance, as a rallying call by which his men know him.[4][6][2]

Semantic evolution

The sense of gratitude came early: an offering of thanks in the Livre des Rois (about 1170) and gratitude itself in Gautier d'Arras (1176–1184).[4] In feudal law it meant being recognized as the tenant of a fief (1174–1176) and the tenant's own acknowledgement (1235), and a lettre de reconissance acknowledged a debt (1292).[4] Brunetto Latini's Trésor (about 1265) uses it for the admission of a fault: Recognoissance est quant li on ne nie ne ne deffent pas le fait, mais il demande que l'en li pardoint “acknowledgement is when one does not deny or defend the deed but asks to be forgiven”.[4][6]

Recognizing a person or thing already known is recorded from 1275, and Racine uses it of the recognition scene in a tragedy (1676).[4] The military sense “survey of a place or position” is in La Noue (1587); a detachment sent on such a mission is so called from 1875.[4][2] Later legal uses are the acknowledgement of a promise or a signature (Nicot, 1606), of a child (Civil Code, 1804) and of a state (1835).[4] A pawn ticket is called a reconnaissance from 1816.[2] English borrowed the military sense in 1810, during the Napoleonic Wars.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Reconuisance “rallying sign” in the Chanson de Roland.[4][2]
  • c. 1170 – An offering of thanks in the Livre des Rois.[4]
  • 1176–1184 – Gratitude, in Gautier d'Arras.[4]
  • c. 1265 – Admission of a fault, in Brunetto Latini.[4]
  • 1587 – La Noue uses it for a military survey.[4]
  • 1676 – Racine uses it of a recognition scene.[4]
  • 1804 – Reconnaissance d'un enfant in the Civil Code.[4]
  • 1810 – English borrows the military sense.[7]
  • 1835 – The Académie records the recognition of a state.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. recognition: the act of knowing again a person or thing already known;[8][4][1] signe de reconnaissance, a sign by which people recognize each other.[8][4][1]
  2. (military) reconnaissance: the survey of a place or an enemy position, and the detachment sent to make it.[4][1]
  3. An acknowledgement, an admission: of a fault, of a debt, of a child, or of a state's legitimacy.[4][6]
  4. A pawn ticket.[2]
  5. gratitude, thankfulness.[8][4][1]

Usage notes

Avoir la reconnaissance du ventre is to feel grateful to whoever has fed or helped one.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  5. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
Cite this entry

“Reconnaissance.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/reconnaissance. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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