recognizance

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /rɪˈkɑɡnɪzəns/ UK /rɪˈkɒɡnɪzəns/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a formal bond binding a person to fulfill an obligation, as appearing in court

He was released on his own recognizance pending trial.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a formal bond binding a... bond obligation surety pledgerecognisance

Word family

Related forms recognize recognition cognizance

Etymology

From Old French reconoissance ('recognition, acknowledgment'), from reconoistre ('to recognize'), from Latin recognoscere ('to know again'), from re- ('again') + cognoscere ('to know').

reconoissance Old French cognoscere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Register & Style

External links

# recognizance

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈkɑɡnɪzəns/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈkɒɡnɪzəns/

## Meanings
1. a formal bond binding a person to fulfill an obligation, as appearing in court

## Examples
- He was released on his own recognizance pending trial.

## Synonyms
- bond
- obligation
- surety
- pledge
- recognisance

## Related Forms
- recognize
- recognition
- cognizance

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: reconoissance
- Root: cognoscere

## Etymology
From Old French reconoissance ('recognition, acknowledgment'), from reconoistre ('to recognize'), from Latin recognoscere ('to know again'), from re- ('again') + cognoscere ('to know').

## AI Etymology
Recognizance comes from Old French reconoissance ('recognition, acknowledgment'), from reconoistre ('to recognize'), from Latin recognoscere ('to know again'), from re- ('again') + cognoscere ('to know'). The historical chain includes Old French reconoissance and Latin cognoscere. Older glosses in the chain include "recognition, acknowledgment", "to recognize", "to know again", and "again", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, recognizance is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "a formal bond binding a person to fulfill an obligation, as appearing in court". related forms include recognize, recognition, and cognizance. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Register & Style

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