recitation

[ res-i-tey-shuhn ]

noun

1. an act of reciting.
2. a reciting or repeating of something from memory, especially formally or publicly.
3. oral response by a pupil or pupils to a teacher on a prepared lesson.
4. a period of classroom instruction.
5. an elocutionary delivery of a piece of poetry or prose, without the text, before an audience.
6. a piece so delivered or for such delivery.

recitation

/ ˌrɛsɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse before an audience
2. something recited

Other Words From

• nonrec·i·tation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of recitation¹

1475–85; < Latin recitātiōn- (stem of recitātiō ), equivalent to recitāt ( us ) (past participle of recitāre to recite ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

Too-cool-for-school upper-class students at Santa Monica High scoffed when administrators in 2002 reinstated a daily recitation of the pledge of allegiance.

From Los Angeles Times

These exchanges, which take place several times per week at Vance rallies now, have become ritualistic, playing out more or less the same way: A reporter starts into a question that Vance may not like, the crowd boos and yells, Vance and the reporter both wait for relative calm to return to the venue, and then Vance provides a reasonably polite recitation of his talking points.

From Slate

He then recalls the closing lines of Universal’s 1941 film “The Wolf Man,” a final moment in which a character offers a poem-like recitation about the end of suffering, a climax he describes as “one of the saddest scenes ever.”

From Los Angeles Times

This recitation of names creates a powerful ritual.

From Los Angeles Times

She only read the poem, and her recitation was interrupted at times by applause.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• monologue
• narration
• oration
• recital
• recounting
• rendering