recollect

verb rec·ol·lect \ˌre-kə-ˈlekt\

: to remember (something)

Full Definition of RECOLLECT

transitive verb

: to bring back to the level of conscious awareness : remember <trying to recollect the name>

: to remind (oneself) of something temporarily forgotten

intransitive verb

: to call something to mind

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Origin of RECOLLECT

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

First Known Use: 1559

Related to RECOLLECT

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

Antonyms: disremember, forget, unlearn

Synonym Discussion of 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>.