recapitulation

noun

re·​ca·​pit·​u·​la·​tion ˌrē-kə-ˌpi-chə-ˈlā-shən How to pronounce recapitulation (audio)
Synonyms of recapitulationnext
1
: a concise summary
2
: the hypothetical occurrence in an individual organism's development of successive stages resembling the series of ancestral types from which it has descended so that the ontogeny of the individual retraces the phylogeny of its group
3
: the third section of a sonata form

Synonyms of recapitulation

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Examples of recapitulation in a Sentence

will begin his presentation with a recapitulation of the research done on the disease up to this point
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
In this sense, the salt flats and their salty lakes are at once a living record and an ongoing recapitulation of billions of years of planetary history. — Literary Hub, 3 Oct. 2025 As the Barber’s first movement rounds the corner into the recapitulation section, the soloist has a few precious seconds to breathe as the orchestra sings out the main tune. — Hannah Edgar, Chicago Tribune, 20 Sep. 2024 The dullard cousin of the repetition family is redundancy, that almost onomatopoeic term for needless recapitulation. — Namwali Serpell, The New Yorker, 8 Mar. 2025 The Word for World Is Forest envisions space exploration as a recapitulation of earlier colonial conflicts. — Robert Rubsam, The Atlantic, 21 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for recapitulation

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of recapitulation was in the 14th century

Rhymes for recapitulation

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Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Recapitulation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/recapitulation. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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Medical Definition

recapitulation

noun
re·​ca·​pit·​u·​la·​tion ˌrē-kə-ˌpich-ə-ˈlā-shən How to pronounce recapitulation (audio)
: the supposed repetition in the development of the individual of its phylogenetic history see recapitulation theory

More from Merriam-Webster on recapitulation

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about recapitulation

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