Recognition - Definition

n 1: the state or quality of being recognized or acknowledged;
"the partners were delighted with the recognition of their
work"; "she seems to avoid much in the way of recognition
or acknowledgement of feminist work prior to her own" [syn:
recognition, acknowledgment, acknowledgement]
2: the process of recognizing something or someone by
remembering; "a politician whose recall of names was as
remarkable as his recognition of faces"; "experimental
psychologists measure the elapsed time from the onset of the
stimulus to its recognition by the observer" [syn:
recognition, identification]
3: approval; "give her recognition for trying"; "he was given
credit for his work"; "give her credit for trying" [syn:
recognition, credit]
4: coming to understand something clearly and distinctly; "a
growing realization of the risk involved"; "a sudden
recognition of the problem he faced"; "increasing recognition
that diabetes frequently coexists with other chronic
diseases" [syn: realization, realisation, recognition]
5: (biology) the ability of one molecule to attach to another
molecule that has a complementary shape; "molecular
recognition drives all of biology, for instance, hormone and
receptor or antibody-antigen interactions or the organization
of molecules into larger biologically active entities"
6: the explicit and formal acknowledgement of a government or of
the national independence of a country; "territorial disputes
were resolved in Guatemala's recognition of Belize in 1991"
7: an acceptance (as of a claim) as true and valid; "the
recognition of the Rio Grande as a boundary between Mexico
and the United States"
8: designation by the chair granting a person the right to speak
in a deliberative body; "he was unable to make his motion
because he couldn't get recognition by the chairman"