recapitulation

[ ree-kuh-pich-uh-ley-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act of recapitulating or the state of being recapitulated.
2. a brief review or summary, as of a speech.
3. Biology. the theory that the stages an organism passes through during its embryonic development repeat the evolutionary stages of structural change in its ancestral lineage.
4. Music. the modified restatement of the exposition following the development section in a sonata-form movement.

recapitulation

/ ˌriːkəˌpɪtjʊˈleɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of recapitulating, esp summing up, as at the end of a speech
2. Also calledpalingenesis biology the apparent repetition in the embryonic development of an animal of the changes that occurred during its evolutionary history Compare caenogenesis
3. music the repeating of earlier themes, esp when forming the final section of a movement in sonata form

Other Words From

• reca·pitu·lative re·ca·pit·u·la·to·ry [ree-k, uh, -, pich, -, uh, -l, uh, -tawr-ee, -tohr-ee], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of recapitulation¹

1350–1400; Middle English recapitulacioun < Late Latin recapitulātiōn- (stem of recapitulātiō ), equivalent to recapitulāt ( us ) ( recapitulate ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

The events which succeeded this fortunate capture are too well known to require more than a very brief recapitulation.

From Project Gutenberg

Who has patience for the recapitulation of a string of names, when a group of faces may be placed simultaneously before him?

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Hume entered at considerable length into a recapitulation of the past and present grievances of the Canadians.

From Project Gutenberg

Little comment is needed on this final section; there is a recapitulation of the sins of Aholah and Aholibah.

From Project Gutenberg

This theory of race recapitulation as applied to the succeeding stages of boyhood may be somewhat more poetic than scientific.

From Project Gutenberg