recognition

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The act of recognizing or condition of being recognized.
2. n. An awareness that something perceived has been perceived before.
3. n. An acceptance as true or valid, as of a claim: a recognition of their civil rights.
4. n. Attention or favorable notice: She received recognition for her many achievements.
5. n. Official acceptance of the national status of a new government by another nation.
6. n. Biology The ability of one molecule to attach itself to another molecule having a complementary shape, as in enzyme-substrate and antibody-antigen interactions.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of recognizing; a knowing again; consciousness that a given object is identical with an object previously cognized.
2. n. A formal avowal of knowledge and approval or sanction; acknowledgment: as, the recognition of one government by another as an independent sovereignty or as a belligerent.
3. n. Cognizance; notice taken; acceptance.
4. n. In Scots law, the recovery of lands by the proprietor when they fall to him by the fault of the vassal; or, generally, any return of the feu to the superior, by whatever ground of eviction. Synonyms See recognize.
5. n. A repeated cognition.
6. n. This time minus the time required for the simple reaction.

Wiktionary

1. n. the act of recognizing or the condition of being recognized
2. n. an awareness that something observed has been observed before
3. n. acceptance as valid or true
4. n. official acceptance of the status of a new government by that of another country
5. n. honour, favourable note, or attention

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of recognizing, or the state of being recognized; acknowledgment; formal avowal; knowledge confessed or avowed; notice.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the state or quality of being recognized or acknowledged
2. n. an acceptance (as of a claim) as true and valid
3. n. (biology) the ability of one molecule to attach to another molecule that has a complementary shape
4. n. the explicit and formal acknowledgement of a government or of the national independence of a country
5. n. coming to understand something clearly and distinctly
6. n. approval.
7. n. designation by the chair granting a person the right to speak in a deliberative body
8. n. the process of recognizing something or someone by remembering