Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Recognition \Rec`og*ni"tion\, n. [L. recognitio: cf. F.
   recognition. See {Recognizance}.]
   The act of recognizing, or the state of being recognized;
   acknowledgment; formal avowal; knowledge confessed or avowed;
   notice.

         The lives of such saints had, at the time of their
         yearly memorials, solemn recognition in the church of
         God.                                     --Hooker.

Source : WordNet®

recognition
     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: {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: {identification}]
     3: approval; "give her recognition for trying"; "he was given
        credit for his work"; "give her credit for trying"; "the
        credits were given at the end of the film" [syn: {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}]
     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"