What does recollection mean?
Recollection means the act of remembering something from the past or the memory or impression that results. The word often refers to an experience that is being brought back into awareness, whether as a clear scene, a faint impression, or a nostalgic recollection of a person, place, or period. It is frequently used in formal writing, memoirs, historical accounts, and descriptions of childhood or earlier life. In everyday conversation, it can sound slightly literary or nostalgic, especially when it accompanies words such as fond, vivid, or hazy. Compared with memory, which may refer broadly to the mind’s capacity to retain information, recollection emphasizes the process and experience of retrieving something. Compared with recall, which can function as both a noun and a verb, recollection is primarily a noun. The word is useful when describing not merely what someone knows, but the particular way a past event remains present in the mind.
nounThe act or process of recalling something from the past, or a memory or remembered experience. It can also refer to the mental image or impression retained of a past event.
- The act or process of remembering something from the past.
- A memory or mental image of a past event or experience.
"She had a vivid recollection of hearing the sea from the window of her childhood home."
"He could offer only a vague recollection of the conversation."
"The old photograph stirred recollections of summers at the lake."
The plural is used for multiple memories, remembered experiences, or acts of recalling.
"He shared his recollections of life in the village before the war."
The “re-” in recollection means “again”: the word describes the mind gathering a past experience and bringing it back into view.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
Related word forms
How recollection is actually used
Generally formal or literary, though it is also common in personal and nostalgic writing. It often conveys an effort to recover a past experience rather than simply possessing factual information about it.
Easily confused with recollection
A memory is information or an experience retained by the mind, whereas a recollection more specifically emphasizes the act or experience of recalling something.
Recall can name the process of remembering or the act of retrieving information, while recollection is primarily a noun for a remembered experience or the act of remembering.