What does recall mean?
Recall means to bring something from the past back into awareness, whether a fact, an event, a name, or a vivid sensation. The verb is especially useful when describing a memory that returns through a prompt or when emphasizing the act of remembering: “I recall meeting her years ago.” It can also mean to summon a feeling or person, and in commercial or official contexts it means to order the return or withdrawal of something previously made available, as in a product recall. The related noun refers either to the ability to remember information or to an organized withdrawal or return. Recall is slightly more deliberate than the broad verb remember and more formal than remembering in some uses, but it is natural in everyday speech, writing, business, and legal language alike.
To remember something, summon a person or idea, or order the return or withdrawal of a product or person.
"I recall the day we met, although the details have grown hazy."
The ability to remember information, or an event or action involving the return or withdrawal of something previously made available.
"He has a good recall for names and dates."
The plural is used for instances of remembering or for organized returns or withdrawals, especially in legal and commercial contexts.
"The manufacturer issued recalls for several batches of the product."
Recall is a word for reaching backward in time: it carries a memory into the present, but it can also order a product to come back.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does recall come from?
The word comes from Old French recaler, from Latin revocare, meaning “to call back” or “summon back.” The sense of remembering developed from the idea of mentally calling a past event or person back into the present. Its Latin relatives include revoke, revocation, and revocable, all based on the same root for calling back.
Related word forms
How recall is actually used
Recall is common in both formal and informal contexts. In memories, it often means to bring an earlier experience back into awareness; in commerce and administration, it commonly means to withdraw or order the return of a product, person, or decision.
Easily confused with recall
Recall is the general act of bringing a past experience or fact back into awareness, whereas recollect often suggests remembering something specifically, often after some effort.
Recall usually refers to a mental act, while retrieve can mean to obtain information, an object, or a lost item from a place or system.