【Acknowledge】 and 【Recognize】 agree in meaning to take cognizance of in some way, usually in a way dictated by custom or convention and implying acceptance or assent.
【Acknowledge】 is found in certain idioms where the concrete method of taking notice is not stated but connoted; one acknowledges a letter by sending a reply; one acknowledges a gift by a message indicating the receipt ami acceptance of the gift and one's gratitude; one acknowledges a greeting by an appropriate conventional response (as a bow, smile, or friendly remark).
In freer expression 【acknowledge】 usually implies definite or formal acceptance, as of a principle as binding or of a claim as rightful or of a person as ruler.
He acknowledged the obligation of a son to support his aged parents.
In Italy during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there were two acknowledged sources of political power: the Empire and the Church. — Huxley
【Recognize】 , though often used interchangeably with 【acknowledge】 , suggests more strongly authoritative sanction or full admission concerning a given or implied status or suggests actual and manifest, as contrasted with formal or merely verbal, acceptance.
In 1918 England, France, and the United States recognized Czechoslovakia as an independent state.
the ladies never acted so well as when they were in the presence of a fact which they acknowledged but did not 【recognize】 — Meredith
【Recognize】 sometimes implies, as 【acknowledge】 never does, full realization or comprehension.
courts . . . have been . . . slow to 【recognize】 that statutes . . . may imply a policy different from that of the common law —Justice Holmesy
