Meanings
present singular third person reconnoiters · participle present reconnoitering · participle past reconnoitered · past reconnoitered · alternative reconnoitre
- USintransitivetransitivegovernmentTo perform a reconnaissance (of an area; an enemy position); to scout with the aim of acquiring information.
Our scout will reconnoiter the path ahead of our troops.
1 more example
Not everything is exactly right on the Enterprise. Something is burning somewhere. People are firing guns. She's not entirely sure she wants to be there. As long as she is high up in the air, she reconnoiters the ship and confirms that there is no way off, no handy gangplanks or stairway thingies.
1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 395
plural reconnoiters · alternative reconnoitre
- USAn act or instance of reconnoitering.
The pilot reported the findings of his reconnoiter.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo perform a reconnaissance (of an area; an enemy position); to scout with the aim of acquiring information.
More synonyms by meaning
verbexplore, often with the goal of finding something or somebody
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinrecognoscere“to recognize”
- Frenchreconnoître
- Englishreconnoiter
From French reconnoître (obsolete spelling of reconnaître), from Latin recognoscere (“to recognize”). Contrarily, there is also an obsolete 19th-century British English spelling reconnaitre (now reconnoitre).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian разузнавам, разузна́ване
- разузнавам (razuznavam)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- разузна́ване (razuznávane)instance of reconnoitering
Chinese Mandarin 偵察 /侦察
- 偵察 /侦察 (zhēnchá)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Czech prozkoumat
- prozkoumatperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Finnish tiedustella
- tiedustellaperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
French reconnaître
- reconnaîtreperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
German erkunden, auskundschaften
- erkundenperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- auskundschaftenperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- aufklärenperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- Erkundunginstance of reconnoitering
- Auskundschaftunginstance of reconnoitering
- Aufklärunginstance of reconnoitering
- Auskundschafteninstance of reconnoitering
- Aufkläreninstance of reconnoitering
- Erkundeninstance of reconnoitering
Hindi सर्वेक्षण
- सर्वेक्षण (sarvekṣaṇ)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Hungarian felderít
- felderítperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Irish taiscéalaíocht a dhéanamh, taiscéalaíocht
- taiscéalaíocht a dhéanamhperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- taiscéalaíochtinstance of reconnoitering
Japanese 偵察する
- 偵察する (teisatsu suru)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Korean 정찰(偵察)하다
- 정찰(偵察)하다 (jeongchal-hada)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Latin speculor
- speculorperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Māori hūhunu, hunuhunu
- hūhunuperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- hunuhunuperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- ārohiperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- torotoroperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- torohēperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Norwegian Bokmål rekognosering
- rekognoseringinstance of reconnoitering
Polish przeprowadzać rekonesans, badać teren
- przeprowadzać rekonesansperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- badać terenperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Russian разве́дывать, разве́дать
- разве́дывать (razvédyvatʹ)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- разве́дать (razvédatʹ)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- рекогносци́ровать (rekognoscírovatʹ)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- разве́дка (razvédka)instance of reconnoitering
- рекогносциро́вка (rekognosciróvka)instance of reconnoitering
Spanish reconocer, campear
- reconocerperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- campearperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- correr la campañaperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Ukrainian розві́дувати, розві́дати
- розві́дувати (rozvíduvaty)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- розві́дати (rozvídaty)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- рекогносцирува́ти (rekohnoscyruváty)perform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
- ро́звідка (rózvidka)instance of reconnoitering
- розві́дка (rozvídka)instance of reconnoitering
- рекогносциро́вка (rekohnoscyróvka)instance of reconnoitering
Welsh rhagchwilio
- rhagchwilioperform a reconnaissance — see also scout, explore
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
reconnoiter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reconnoiter
“reconnoiter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reconnoiter. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reconnoiter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reconnoiter.
Source: reconnoiter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.