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recursion

[ ri-kur-zhuhn ]

noun

, Mathematics, Computers.
  1. the process of defining a function or calculating a number by the repeated application of an algorithm.


recursion

/ rɪˈkɜːʃən /

noun

  1. the act or process of returning or running back
  2. logic maths the application of a function to its own values to generate an infinite sequence of values. The recursion formula or clause of a definition specifies the progression from one term to the next, as given the base clause f (0) = 0, f ( n + 1) = f ( n ) + 3 specifies the successive terms of the sequence f ( n ) = 3 n
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • reˈcursive, adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of recursion1

1925–30; < Late Latin recursiōn- (stem of recursiō ) a running back, equivalent to recurs ( us ) ( recourse ) + -iōn- -ion
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Word History and Origins

Origin of recursion1

C17: from Latin recursio , from recurrere recur
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Example Sentences

This paper prompted Liao and her colleagues to investigate whether crows, with their renowned cognitive skills, might possess the capacity for recursion as well.

Even in the academy, fellow polymaths were bedazzled by the breadth of his boundless ruminations into metaphysics, modal logic, recursion theory, identity materialism and the ontological nature of numbers.

Her comedy resembles an infinite recursion, a hall of mirrors in which the reflections rarely flatter.

They are created in a sort of feedback loop, what computer scientists call "recursion."

From Salon

There is a recursion here that is worth noting: like all proteins, DNA polymerase, the enzyme that enables DNA to replicate, is itself the product of a gene.*

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recurring decimalrecursion formula