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reconnaissance

/ɹɪˈkɒnɪsəns/
nounC1Common in everyday speech and writing · #6,391 of 15,258leans written

Reconnaissance is going out to see where the enemy is. Aerial reconnaissance, a reconnaissance patrol, carry out reconnaissance.

Time spent on it is seldom wasted is the old army saying, and it holds outside soldiering too. The word is shortened to recce in Britain and recon in America, and both are pronounced nothing like the French original.

Unknown · Public domain

Definitions of reconnaissance

  1. 1nounreconnaissanceGoing out to see where the enemy is.C1

    “A small team crept forward at night on a reconnaissance mission behind enemy lines.”

reconnaissance is a survey.

Also accepted in games: recon

Where it comes from

French reconnaissance means recognition, from reconnaitre, to recognise, from Latin recognoscere. Recognizance is the same word by another route.

  1. French

    reconnaissance — recognition

  2. English, today

    reconnaissance

French reconnaissance (“recognition”). a doublet of recognizance.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Military & Defence

Practise this word

reconnaissance in the wild

  • Moreover, espionage is different from reconnaissance, because spies work as civilians in enemy territory.

    Reconnaissance

  • Before the development of devices such as radar, military forces relied on reconnaissance aircraft for visual observation and scouting of enemy movement.

    Reconnaissance aircraft

  • ISTAR stands for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance.

    Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance

  • Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft.

    Aerial reconnaissance

  • The 543d was established in September 1950 to control tactical reconnaissance units operating in Korea.

    543rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.