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

And the judge said the appeal bid did not add to the claim but was a "recapitulation of the case" that had previously been brought.

From BBC

Schaffer: Once we knew we were going to do this recapitulation of the “Seinfeld” finale, the question was how far do we take it?

From Los Angeles Times

Fani Willis unveiled Monday night offers a panoramic recapitulation of the misdeeds that former President Trump and his confederates allegedly perpetrated to unlawfully retain power in the months after the 2020 election.

From Los Angeles Times

Taking a page from the vacation school example, we should imagine it as a respite from the academic year rather than simply a recapitulation or extension of it.

From Los Angeles Times

But all but the most uninformed readers are in for quite a bit of recapitulation, often of facts that are already canonical.

From New York Times