recollect

1 of 2

verb (1)

rec·​ol·​lect ˌre-kə-ˈlekt 

recollected; recollecting; recollects

transitive verb

1

: to bring back to the level of conscious awareness : remember

trying to recollect the name

2

: to remind (oneself) of something temporarily forgotten

intransitive verb

: to call something to mind

re-collect

2 of 2

verb (2)

re-col·​lect ˌrē-kə-ˈlekt 

re-collected; re-collecting; re-collects

transitive verb

: to collect again

especially : rally, recover

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• flash back (to)
• hark back (to)
• harken back (to)
• hearken back (to)
• mind [chiefly dialect]
• recall
• remember
• reminisce (about)
• reproduce
• think (of)

Verb (2)

• calm
• collect
• compose
• contain
• control
• settle

Choose the Right Synonym for recollect

remember, recollect, recall, remind, reminisce mean to bring an image or idea from the past into the mind.

remember implies a keeping in memory that may be effortless or unwilled.

remembers that day as though it were yesterday

recollect implies a bringing back to mind what is lost or scattered.

as near as I can recollect

recall suggests an effort to bring back to mind and often to re-create in speech.

can't recall the words of the song

remind suggests a jogging of one's memory by an association or similarity.

that reminds me of a story

reminisce implies a casual often nostalgic recalling of experiences long past and gone.

old college friends like to reminisce

Examples of recollect in a Sentence

Verb (1)

I've been trying to recollect what happened.

I don't recollect telling him anything, but maybe I did.

She couldn't recollect who had mentioned his name in the first place.

From what I recollect, they said four of them were coming.

Verb (2)

she had to calm down and re-collect herself after being told she had won the lottery

I struggled to re-collect the papers the wind had torn from my hands

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The harsh band meeting – set up with Hoffs, Steele, managers and press agents – that cemented their demise is painstakingly recollected in the book as more of an ambush of the Petersons. —Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 26 Mar. 2025

Editor Scott Sheppard interweaves footage of Hernandez’s family in heart-rending emotional moments, recollecting Hernandez’s prison sentence and their own efforts to help get him out. —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 16 Mar. 2025

So, the international team demonstrated that the nanowire serves the dual purpose of exciting the MoS2 via plasmons and recollecting the decaying exciton as nanowire plasmons. —IEEE Spectrum, 5 Sep. 2014

Former Dolphins first-round pick Dion Jordan, who history will recollect as one of Miami’s biggest draft busts, struggled with it, and resorted to drugs. —Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 17 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Medieval Latin recollectus, past participle of recolligere, from Latin, to gather again

Verb (2)

partly from Latin recollectus, past participle of recolligere, from re- + colligere to collect; partly from re- + collect

First Known Use

Verb (1)

1559, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Verb (2)

1604, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for recollect

• architect
• circumspect
• deselect
• dialect
• disconnect
• disinfect
• disrespect
• incorrect
• indirect
• intellect
• interject
• intersect

Kids Definition

recollect

1 of 2 verb

rec·​ol·​lect ˌrek-ə-ˈlekt 

1

: to recall to mind : remember

2

: to remind oneself of something temporarily forgotten

re-collect

2 of 2 verb

re-col·​lect

ˌrē-kə-ˈlekt

: to collect again

especially : rally entry 1 sense 2, recover