Word.ws English Dictionary

recognizance

recognizance noun: a form of bail; a promise made by the accused to the court that they will attend all required judicial proceedings and will not engage in further illegal activity or other prohibited conduct as set by the court.

Noun

recognizance (countable and uncountable, plural recognizances)

  1. A form of bail; a promise made by the accused to the court that they will attend all required judicial proceedings and will not engage in further illegal activity or other prohibited conduct as set by the court.
    • The defendant was released on his own recognizance.
    Synonyms:
    recog
  2. A token; a symbol; a pledge.
    • That recognizance and pledge of love / Which I first gave her.c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    • Hobhouse's insolence to Mr. Hunt is not seen in its true light, unless we remember, that the latter is held under heavy recognizances to keep the peace!1825 April 2, “To the Freeholders of Ireland. Letter II.”, in William Cobbett, editor, Cobbett’s Weekly Register, volume LIV, number 1, London: Printed and published by C. Clement, […], →OCLC, column...
  3. An acknowledgment of a person or thing; an avowal; a profession; a recognition.

recognizance meaning in Tamil and Punjabi

recognizance in Tamil

மறுபடி விசாரணைக்கு ஏற்றுக்கொள்

recognizance in Punjabi

a promise to the court
ਮੁਚੱਲਕਾ mucallakā

Synonyms of recognizance

Forms of recognizance

pluralrecognizances

Origin of recognizance

From Middle English reconisaunce, from Old French reconissance. Doublet of reconnaissance.

Questions about recognizance

What does recognizance mean?
Recognizance means a form of bail; a promise made by the accused to the court that they will attend all required judicial proceedings and will not engage in further illegal activity or other prohibited conduct as set by the court.
What is recognizance in Tamil?
Recognizance in Tamil is மறுபடி விசாரணைக்கு ஏற்றுக்கொள். See Recognizance meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is recognizance?
Recognizance is a noun.
What is the plural of recognizance?
The plural of recognizance is recognizances.

Words near recognizance in the dictionary

  1. recognizabilities
  2. recognizability
  3. recognizable
  4. recognizableness
  5. recognizably
  6. recognizance
  7. recognizances
  8. recognizant
  9. recognization
  10. recognizations
  11. recognize

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: recognizance (page history and authors); recognizance (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “recognizance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/recognizance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.