recognize
v.v. to know someone or something because you have seen or heard them before. You use this when you see a face or a place and remember it from the past.
v. to identify someone or something from having encountered them before. Transitive; requires a direct object.
I didn't recognize you with your new haircut.
Even after twenty years apart, she could still recognize her childhood friend's voice on the phone immediately.
The software is designed to recognize patterns in consumer behavior that might otherwise go unnoticed by human analysts during the initial data review.
Borrowed from Middle French reconoistre, from Old French reconoistre, from Latin recognoscere, first attested in the 16th century. Displaced native English acknow (“to recognize, perceive as”), compare German erkennen and Swedish erkänna. Latin had rare recognizare (“to try by jury”).
From re- + cognize.
The verb is transitive and takes a direct object. In British English, it is frequently spelled 'recognise'.
I am recognizing him now.I recognize him now.When used to mean 'identify', this is a stative verb and is rarely used in the continuous (-ing) form.