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re·con·noi·ter (rē′kə-noitər, rĕk′ə-)
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v. re·con·noi·tered, re·con·noi·ter·ing, re·con·noi·ters
v.tr.
To make a preliminary examination of (an area or a group, for example), usually by moving around and observing, in order to gather information, especially for military purposes: reconnoitered the enemy positions.
v.intr.
To make a reconnaissance or preliminary examination.
n.
An act of reconnoitering.
[Obsolete French reconnoître, from Old French reconoistre, to recognize; see RECOGNIZE.]
re′con·noiter·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2018 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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