Standard Lemma guide

reconnaissance

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ɹɪˈkɒnɪsəns/ weak vowel distinction
  • /ɹiˈkɒnɪsəns/ weak vowel distinction
  • Canada: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ɹəˈkɒnəsəns/ weak vowel merger
  • CMU ARPABET: R IY0 K AA1 N AH0 S AH0 N S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of scouting or exploring (especially military or medical) to gain information.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

the act of reconnoitring (especially to gain information about an enemy or potential enemy)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • an exchange of fire occurred on a reconnaissance mission

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: reconnaissance mission

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: intelligence, intelligence activity, intelligence operation

Narrower terms: recce, recco, reccy, scouting, exploratory survey, reconnoitering, reconnoitring, air reconnaissance, reconnaissance by fire, reconnaissance in force, shufti, electronic reconnaissance

History

Etymology

Borrowed from French reconnaissance (“recognition”). Doublet of recognizance.

Across languages

Translations

65 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اِسْتِطْلَاع (istiṭlāʕ) — act of gathering information
  • Armenian: հետախուզություն (hetaxuzutʻyun) — act of gathering information
  • Azerbaijani: kəşfiyyat — act of gathering information
  • Belarusian: разве́дка (razvjédka) — act of gathering information
  • Belarusian: рэкагнасцыро́ўка (rekahnascyrówka) — act of gathering information
  • Bulgarian: разузна́ване (razuznávane) — act of gathering information
  • Bulgarian: рекогносциро́вка (rekognosciróvka) — act of gathering information
  • Chinese Mandarin: 偵察 /侦察 (zhēnchá) — act of gathering information
  • Chinese Mandarin: 選點 /选点 (xuǎndiǎn) — act of gathering information
  • Chukchi: ёпыԓӄэв (jopyḷqėv) — act of gathering information
  • Czech: průzkum — act of gathering information
  • Danish: rekognoscering — act of gathering information
  • Dutch: verkenning — act of gathering information
  • Esperanto: rekognosko — act of gathering information
  • Estonian: luure — act of gathering information
  • Finnish: tiedustelu — act of gathering information
  • French: reconnaissance — act of gathering information
  • Georgian: დაზვერვა (dazverva) — act of gathering information
  • German: Aufklärung — act of gathering information
  • German: Kundschaft — act of gathering information
  • German: Auskundschaftung — act of gathering information
  • German: Auskundschaften — act of gathering information
  • Greek: αναγνώριση (anagnórisi) — act of gathering information
  • Hebrew: סִיּוּר (si'úr) — act of gathering information
  • Hungarian: felderítés — act of gathering information
  • Hungarian: információszerzés — act of gathering information
  • Indonesian: pengintaian — act of gathering information
  • Indonesian: penyelidikan — act of gathering information
  • Italian: ricognizione — act of gathering information
  • Japanese: 偵察 (teisatsu) — act of gathering information
  • Korean: 정찰 (jeongchal) — act of gathering information
  • Latvian: rekognoscēšana — act of gathering information
  • Lithuanian: žvalgyba — act of gathering information
  • Lithuanian: žvalgymas — act of gathering information
  • Macedonian: извидување (izviduvanje) — act of gathering information
  • Māori: ārohitanga — act of gathering information
  • Norwegian Bokmål: rekognosering — act of gathering information
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: rekognosering — act of gathering information
  • Polish: rekonesans — act of gathering information
  • Polish: zwiad — act of gathering information
  • Portuguese: reconhecimento — act of gathering information
  • Romanian: recunoaștere — act of gathering information
  • Romanian: cercetare — act of gathering information
  • Russian: разве́дка (razvédka) — act of gathering information
  • Russian: рекогносциро́вка (rekognosciróvka) — act of gathering information
  • Serbo-Croatian: извиђање — act of gathering information
  • Serbo-Croatian: ѝзвидница — act of gathering information
  • Serbo-Croatian: izviđanje — act of gathering information
  • Serbo-Croatian: ìzvidnica — act of gathering information
  • Slovak: prieskum — act of gathering information
  • Slovene: izvidništvo — act of gathering information
  • Spanish: reconocimiento — act of gathering information
  • Spanish: conocimiento — act of gathering information
  • Spanish: descubierta — act of gathering information
  • Swedish: rekognosering — act of gathering information
  • Thai: การลาดตระเวน (gaan-lâat-dtrà-ween) — act of gathering information
  • Thai: การสอดแนม (gaan-sɔ̀ɔt-nɛɛm) — act of gathering information
  • Thai: การสํารวจ (gaan-sǎm-rùuat) — act of gathering information
  • Turkish: keşif — act of gathering information
  • Ottoman Turkish: كشف (keşf, keşif) — act of gathering information
  • Ukrainian: ро́звідка (rózvidka) — act of gathering information
  • Ukrainian: розві́дка (rozvídka) — act of gathering information
  • Ukrainian: рекогносциро́вка (rekohnoscyróvka) — act of gathering information
  • Ukrainian: рекогносцирува́ння (rekohnoscyruvánnja) — act of gathering information
  • Uzbek: razvedka — act of gathering information
Real reading context

reconnaissance in complete knowledge articles