misrecognize

Misrecognize is a verb meaning to recognize something or someone incorrectly, or to fail to recognize someone or something in a given situation. It can apply to people, objects, names, signs, or patterns.

Etymology and spelling: The term combines the prefix mis- (wrong) with recognize. American English typically uses misrecognize, while British English uses misrecognise; both forms are widely understood. The corresponding noun is misrecognition (British English: misrecognition or misrecognising when used as a gerund).

Contexts and causes: Causes of misrecognition include perceptual similarity, poor lighting or distance, memory decay, cognitive biases, and aging. In eyewitness testimony and security contexts, misrecognition can lead to misidentification with serious consequences. In cognitive science and machine perception, recognition errors are studied to understand how perception and identification systems may go wrong and how to improve accuracy.

Usage notes: Misrecognize is often contrasted with misidentify, though the two terms are closely related and sometimes used interchangeably in everyday language. The noun form misrecognition describes the act or result of recognizing incorrectly.

Examples: “I misrecognized her at the event because she had cut her hair.” “The blurred image caused me to misrecognize the logo.” The phrase can indicate errors in memory, perception, or identification in real-world or experimental settings.

See also: misidentification, misperception, recognition error, false recognition.