- the act of reconnoitring
- the process of obtaining information about the position, activities, resources, etc, of an enemy or potential enemy
- a preliminary inspection of an area of land before an engineering survey is made
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
re•con•nais•sance /rɪˈkɑnəsəns, -zəns/USA pronunciation
n.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- the act of reconnoitering;
a survey or examination of an area: [uncountable]reconnaissance with telescopic cameras.[countable]ordered a reconnaissance.
re•con•nais•sance
(ri kon′ə səns, -zəns),USA pronunciation n.
- the act of reconnoitering.
- Militarya search made for useful military information in the field, esp. by examining the ground.
- Surveyinga general examination or survey of a region, usually followed by a detailed survey.
- Geologyan examination or survey of the general geological characteristics of a region.
- French; Middle French reconoissance recognizance
- 1800–10
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
reconnaissance, reconnoissance /rɪˈkɒnɪsəns/ n
'reconnaissance' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
drone aircraft
- recce
- reconnoitre
- zeppelin
- aerial
- air cavalry
- armored car
- base camp
- discoverer
- flight strip
- grasshopper
- harrier
- Light Armored Vehicle
- patrol
- photoreconnaissance
- point
- recon
- reconnaissance car
- reconnaissance satellite
- reconnoiter
- RPV
- up
- vela
- Samos
- scout car
- scouting