1. the ability to recognize and identify a complex whole composed of, or embedded in, many separate elements. Pattern recognition is not only a visual ability; in audition, it refers to (a) the recognition of temporal patterns of sounds or (b) the recognition of patterns of excitation of the basilar membrane, such as that which occurs during the perception of vowels in speech.

2. the identification and classification of meaningful patterns of data input by computers, based on the extraction and comparison of the characteristic properties or features of the data.