recognize 
II, intrans. In law, to enter an obligation of 
record before a proper tribunal : as, A. B. rec- 
i>!/>ii:ed in the sum of twenty dollars. 
Also spelled recognise. 
recognize 2 (re-kog'mz), v. t. To cognize again. 
By the aid of Reasoning we are guided in our search, 
and by it n-cnynize known relations under somewhat dif- 
ferent attendant circumstances. 
G. H. Lewes, Probs. of Life and Mind, II. 172. 
recognizee (re-kog-ni-ze' or re-kon-i-ze'), . 
[< recognize! + -eel.] l n fa:,'the person to 
whom a recognizance is made. 
The recognizance is an acknowledgment of a former debt 
upon record, the form whereof is "that A. B. doth ac- 
knowledge to owe to our lord the king, to the plaint ill. 
to C. D., or the like, the sum of ten pounds" . . . : in 
which case the king, the plaintiff, C. D., Ac., is called the 
recognizes, "is cui cognoscltur" ; as he that enters into 
the recognizance is called the cognizor, "isquicognoscit." 
Blackftane, Com., II. xx. 
recognizer (rek'og-ni-zer), n. [< recognize^ + 
-er 1 . Cf. recognisor.] One who recognizes, 
recognizingly (rek'og-nl-zing-li), adv. With 
recognition; consciously; appreciatively. 
I know not if among all his "friends " he [John Wilson] 
has left one who feels more recognizingly what he was . . . 
than I. Carliflc, in Froude, Life in London, xxii. 
recognizer (re-kog'ni-zor or re-kon'i-zor), n. 
[< OF. "recognoisseur, F. reconnaisseur ; as rec- 
ognizel + -or 1 .] In law, one who enters into a 
recognizance, 
recognoscet, ' t. [< L. recognoscere, recognize : 
see recognize^.] Same as recognize^. Boyle. 
The Examiner [Boyle] might have remembered . . . 
who it was that distinguished his style with "ignore" and 
"recognosce," and other words of that sort, which nobody 
has yet thought fit to follow him in. 
Bentley (quoted in F. Hall's Mod. Eng., p. 118). 
recoil 1 (re-koil'), v. [Early mod. E. also recoyle, 
recule; <'ME. recoilen, reculen, < OF. reculer, F. 
reculer, draw back, go back, recoil, retire, defer, 
drive off (= Pr. Sp. recular = Pg. recwar = It. 
reculare, rincitlare), < ML. reculare, go back- 
ward, < L. re-, back, + ctilus(~> F. CM/), the hind- 
er parts, posteriors; cf. Ir. Gael, cul, the back, 
hinder part, = W. cil, back, a retreat.] I. in- 
trans. 1 . To draw back ; go back ; retreat ; take 
a sudden backward motion after an advance. 
Sodalnely he blewe the retraite, and remled almoste a 
myle backewarde. Hall, Hen. V., an. 6. 
We were with vyolence and rage of the sayde tempest 
constreyned to recoyle and turne backwardes, and to seke 
some hauyn vpon the coste of Turkey. 
Sir R. Guylforde, Pylgrymage, p. 59. 
Ye both forwearied be ; therefore a whyle 
I read you rest, and to your bowres recoyle. 
Spenser, F. Q., I. x. 17. 
Looking on the lines 
Of my boy's face, methoughts I did recoil 
Twenty-three years, and saw myself unbreech'd. 
Shak., W. T., L 2. 154. 
Their manner is, when any will inuade them, to allure 
and drawe them on by flying and reculiny (as if they were 
afraide). Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 489. 
His men were compelled to recoil from the dense array 
of German pikes. Preecott, Ferd. and Isa., ii. 12. 
2. To start or draw back, as from anything 
repulsive, distressing, alarming, or the like; 
shrink. 
First Fear his hand, its skill to try, 
Amid the chords bewildered laid, 
And back recoiled, he knew not why, 
E'en at the sound himself had made. 
Cottim, The Passions. 
The heart 
Recoils from its own choice. 
Cowper, Task, i. 487. 
3. To fall, rush, start, bound, or roll back, as 
in consequence of resistance which cannot be 
overcome by the force impressed; return after 
a certain strain or impetus : literally or figura- 
tively. 
These dread curses, like the sun 'gainst glass, 
Or like an overcharged gun, recoil. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., iii a. 331. 
Revenge, at first though sweet. 
Bitter ere long, back on itself recoils. 
Milton, P. L., ix. 172. 
4t. To fall off; degenerate. 
Be revenged ; 
Or she that bore you was no queen, and you 
Recoil from your great stock. 
Shak., Cymbeline, i. 6. 128. 
Il.t 'ran*. To drive back. 
Mariners and merchants with much toyle 
Labour'd in vaine to have secur'd their prize, . . . 
But neither toyle nor trareill might her backe recoyle. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. xii. 19. 
recoil 1 (rp-koil'), M. [Earlymod. E. also recule; 
< OF. recul, recoil, backward movement, re- 
treat, F. recttl, recoil, rebound, = Pg. recuo, a 
recoil ; from the verb.] If. A drawing back ; 
retreat. 
5005 
Where, having knowledge of Omore his recule, he pur- 
sued him. Uolinehed, Descrip. of Ireland. (Nares.) 
2. A backward movement ; a re bound: literally 
or figuratively. 
On a sudden open fly 
With impetuous recoil and jarring sound 
The infernal doors. MUton, P. L., ii. 880. 
The recoil from formalism is scepticism. 
F. W. Robertson. 
Who knows It not this dead recoil 
Of weary fibres stretched with toil? 
0. W. Holmes, Midsummer. 
3. Specifically, the rebound or resilience of a 
firearm or a piece of ordnance when discharged. 
Like an unskilful gunner, he usually misses his aim, and 
is hurt by the recoil of his own piece. 
Sheridan, The Duenna, i. 3. 
Energy of recoil. See energy. Recoil-Check. See 
check*. 
recoil 2 (re-koil'), c. t. [< re- + coifl.] To coil 
again. 
He [the driller] then reverses the motion, uncoils it 
[the cable], and recoils it up the other way. 
Set. Amer., N. S., LV. 118. 
recoiler (re-koi'ler), . One who recoils or falls 
back. Jl/l. Hacket, Abp. Williams, p. 98. 
recoil-escapement (re-koil'es-kap"ment), n. 
In horol., an escapement in which after each beat 
the escape-wheel recoils, or moves backward 
slightly: opposed to a dead-beat escapement, in 
which the escape-wheel rests dead, or without 
motion in the interval between the beats. 
recoilment (re-koil'ment), . [Formerly also 
recuilment ; < OF. (and F.) reculement, < reculer. 
recoil : see recoifi.] The act of recoiling. 
The sharp pains of the stone were allay'd by that heavi- 
ness of sense which the recuilment of serous moisture into 
the habit of the body and insertions of the nerves occa- 
sion'd. Hammond, in Bp. Fell. 
recoil-pallet (re-koil'pal"et), it. One of the 
pallets which form an essential part of the 
mechanism of a recoil-escapement. 
RecoU pallets and dead ones too should only just 
clear the teeth. Sir E. Beckett, Clocks and Watches, p. 79. 
recoil-wave (re-koil'wav), H. A dicrotic wave, 
recoin (re-koin*), v. t. [< re- + coin 1 .] To coin 
again : as, to recoin gold or silver. Locke. 
recoinage (re-koi'naj), . [< recoin + -age."] 
1. The act of coining anew. 2. That which 
is coined anew. 
recoiner (re-koi'ner), n. One who recoins. 
recollect 1 (re-ko-lekf), t'. [< L. recollectus, 
pp. of recolligere (> It. raccogliere, raccorre, ri- 
cogKere, ricorrc = Pg. reeolher = Sp. recolegir 
= F. recueillir, also recolliger), gather up again, 
recollect, < re-, again, + colligere, pp. collectus, 
gather, collect : see collect. Cf. recollect 2 and re- 
cueil.~\ I. trans. 1. To collect or gather again; 
collect what has been scattered: often written 
distinctively re-collect: as, to re-collect routed 
troops. 
So oft shalt thou eternal favour gain, 
Who recollectedst Ireland to them twain. 
Ford, Fame's Memorial. 
The Lake of Zembre, . . . now dispersed into ample 
lakes, and againe recollecting his extravagant waters. 
Sandys, Travailes, p. 73. 
He [Gray] asks his friend Stouehewer, in 1760, "Did you 
never observe (while rocking winds are piping loud) that 
pause as the gust is re-collecting itself?" 
Lowell, New Princeton Rev., I. 163. 
2f. To summon back, as scattered ideas; re- 
duce to order ; gather together. 
" Young man " (qnoth she), " thy spirites recollect ; 
Be not amazde mine vncouth shape to see." 
Times' Whistle (E. E. T. S.), p. 138. 
Recollecting of all our scattered thoughts and exterior ex- 
travagances ... is the best circumstance to dispose us to 
a heavenly visitation. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), 1. 29. 
3. To recover (one's self) ; collect (one's self) : 
used reflexively in the past participle. 
Thor. You'll be temperate, 
And hear me. 
Ger. Speak, I am re-collected, 
Shirley, Love in a Maze, ii. 3. 
Now if Joseph would make one of his long speeches, I 
might recollect myself a little. 
Sheridan, School for Scandal, v. 3. 
4f. To gather; collect. 
These fishers . . . from their watery empire recollect 
All that may men approve or men detect. 
Shak., Pericles, it 1. 54. 
II. intrans. To come together again; reunite. 
Though diffus'd, and spread in infinite, 
Shall recollect, and in one all unite. 
Donne, To Lady Bedford. 
recollect 2 (rek-o-lekf), f. t. [In form and ori- 
gin same as recollecft, but in pronunciation and 
sense depending upon the noun recollection.] 
To recover or recall knowledge of ; bring back 
to the mind or memory ; remember. 
recomfort 
Conscious of age, she recollects her youth. 
Cowper, Truth, 1. 153. 
Perchance 
We do but recollect the dreams that come 
Just ere the waking. Tennyson, Lucretius. 
= Syu. To call up, call to mind. See remember and mem- 
or*/. 
Recollect 3 (rek'o-lekt), . Same as Kecollet. 
The Recollects were uninfected by Jansenism. 
Rom. Cath. Diet., p. 709. 
recollectedness (rek-q-lek'ted-nes), . 1. The 
result of searching the memory, as putting a 
person into complete possession of what he re- 
members. 
Recollectedness to every good purpose ; unpremeditated- 
ness to every bad purpose. 
Unit/in, n, Judicial Evidence, II. iv. 
2. Self-possession ; mastery of what is in one's 
mind. 
I spoke with recollectedness and power. 
Bp. Wilberforce, Diary, March 3, 1857. 
recollection (rek-o-lek'shon), w. [< OF. recol- 
lection, F. recollection = Sp. recoleccion, recollec- 
tion, = Pg. recoleiqSo, retirement, < L. reeollec- 
tio(n-), < recolligere, pp. recollectus, collect again: 
see recollecft, recollect'*.] 1. The act of recol- 
lecting, or recalling to the memory ; the act by 
which objects are voluntarily recalled to the 
memory or ideas are revived in the mind; the 
searching of the memory; reminiscence; re- 
membrance. 
If it [the idea] be sought after by the mind, and with pain 
and endeavour found, and brought again in view, it is rec- 
ollection. Locke, Human Understanding, II. xix. 1. 
2. The power of recalling ideas to the mind, 
or the period over which such power extends; 
remembrance: as, the events mentioned are 
uot within my recollection. 
When I think of my own native land, 
In a moment I seem to be there ; 
But alas ! recollection at hand 
Soon hurries me back to despair. 
Cowper, Alexander Selkirk. 
How dear to this heart are the scenes of my childhood, 
When fond recollection presents them to view ! 
S. Woodworth, The Bucket. 
3. That which is recollected; something re- 
called to mind. 
One of his earliest recollections. Macaulay. 
Thinks I, "Aha! 
When I can talk, I'll tell Mamma." 
And that's my earliest recollection. 
F. Locker, A Terrible Infant. 
4. The operation or practice of collecting or 
concentrating the mind; concentration; col- 
lectedness. 
From such an education Charles contracted habits of 
gravity and recollection which scarcely suited his time of 
life. W. Robertson, Charles V. 
= Syn. 1-3. Remembrance, Reminiscence, etc. See memory. 
recollective (rek-o-lek'tiv), a. [< recollect 2 
+ -ire.] Having the power of recollecting. 
foster. 
Recollet (rek'o-let), n. [Sometimes spelled 
Recollect; < OF. recollet, F. recollet = Sp. Pg. 
recoleto = It. recolletto, m. (F. recollette = Sp. 
Pg. recoleta = It. recolletta, f.), < L. recollectus, 
pp. of recolligere, recollect : see recollect 1 .'] A 
member of a congregation of a monastic order 
which follows an especially strict rule. The most 
noted Recollets belong to the Franciscan order, and form 
a branch of the Observantines. See Franciscan. 
recolor. recolour (re-kul'or), v. [< re- + color, 
colour. j I. trans. To color or dye again. 
The monuments which were restored . . . may also in 
part have been recoloured. A thenxum, No. 3237, p. 643. 
II. intrans. To reassume a color ; flush again. 
[Rare.] 
The swarthy blush recolours in his cheeks. 
Byron, Lara, i. 13. 
recomandt, v. A Middle English form of rec- 
ommend. 
recombine (re-kom-bin' ),v.t. [= F. recombiner 
= Sp. recombinar; as re- + combine.] To com- 
bine again. 
Which when to-day the priest shall recmnbine, 
From the mysterious holy touch such charms 
Will flow. Carew, On the Marriage of P. K. and C. C. 
recomfort (re-kum'fert), r. (. [< ME. reeom- 
forten, reconforten, recounforten, < OF. recon- 
forter, recwiforter, F. rdxmforter = It. ricon- 
fortare, strengthen anew; as re- + comfort.] 
If. To give new strength to. 
The kynge Pyngnores com with vij" 1 ' Saisnes, that hem 
recotmforted and moche sustened, for thei smyten in 
among the kynge Ventres meyne. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.X ii. 245. 
In strawberries ... it is usual to help the ground with 
muck, and likewise to recomfort it sometimes with muck 
put to the roots. Bacon, Nat Hist., | 403. 
