recon

Etymology 1

Contracted form of reconnaissance.

noun

1. (chiefly US, military slang) reconnaissance.
   During a scan of the Phoenix system asteroid field, you detected an odd energy reading that Tali determined was quarian in nature. She led a recon team into the asteroid field, where she discovered an abandoned freighter. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Carbonaceous Asteroid, Phoenix

verb

1. (chiefly US, military slang) reconnoiter.

Etymology 2

Contracted form of recombination + -on, coined by American molecular biologist Seymour Benzer in 1957 as " […] the smallest element in the one-dimensional array that is interchangeable (but not divisible) by genetic recombination."

noun

1. (genetics) The smallest genetic unit that is capable of undergoing recombination.