Meanings
present singular third person recapitulates · participle present recapitulating · participle past recapitulated · past recapitulated
- transitiveTo reproduce or closely resemble (as in structure or function).
1 more example
Being the Joshua/Atonement stanza of this cycle, the fact that the seven steps seem to recapitulate (or precapitulate?) the pattern of dominion is interesting. Situated at the very “gate” of Canaan, was this offer a temptation to be resisted like the plunder of Jericho (Joshua 6:18), or was it sin crouching at the door, the violence of Cain as “keeper” or shepherd over his brother (Genesis 4:7-8)? For Jacob, it was neither. He was waiting on God. For his sons, however, it was both. What Yahweh was offering freely they would take by force.
2017 April 8, Michael Bull, “Sex, Lies, and Murder: Acts II & III”, in BibleMatrix.com, archived from the original on 16 Sep 2025 - transitivebiologyTo mirror or repeat in analogous form, especially in reference to an individual's development passing through stages corresponding to the species' stages of evolutionary development.
Similarly this concept of unity provided a powerful impetus for embryological studies and the idea that fetal development recapitulates the steps of phylogenetic development.
1997 May, G. A. Bray, “Growth of a Molecular Base for Feeding”, in Obesity Research, volume 5, number 3, page 272
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinrecapitulātus
- Englishrecapitulate
From Late Latin recapitulātus, past participle of recapitulāre (“to go over the main points of a thing again”), from re- (“again”) + capitulum (“head, main part, chapter”), from caput (“head”) + -ulum (diminutive suffix); see capitulate. By surface analysis, re- + capitulate.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic لَخَّصَ
- لَخَّصَ (laḵḵaṣa)to summarize or repeat in concise form
Bulgarian резюмирам
- резюмирам (rezjumiram)to summarize or repeat in concise form
Chinese Mandarin 摘要, 提要
- 摘要 (zhāiyào)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 提要 (tíyào)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 擇要 /择要 (zéyào)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 小結 /小结 (xiǎojié)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 總結 /总结 (zǒngjié)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 歸結 /归结 (guījié)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 概括 (gàikuò)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 總括 /总括 (zǒngkuò)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 概述 (gàishù)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 歸納 /归纳 (guīnà)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- 匯總 /汇总 (huìzǒng)to summarize or repeat in concise form
Dutch samenvatten
- samenvattento summarize or repeat in concise form
Esperanto resumi
- resumito summarize or repeat in concise form
Finnish tehdä yhteenveto, vetää yhteen
- tehdä yhteenvetoto summarize or repeat in concise form
- vetää yhteento summarize or repeat in concise form
- rekapituloidato repeat the evolutionary stages of an organism
- seuratato repeat the evolutionary stages of an organism
French récapituler
- récapitulerto summarize or repeat in concise form
German rekapitulieren, zusammenfassen
- rekapitulierento summarize or repeat in concise form
- zusammenfassento summarize or repeat in concise form
- wiederholento summarize or repeat in concise form
- sich vergegenwärtigen (noch einmal)to summarize or repeat in concise form
Hungarian átismétel, áttekint
- átismételto summarize or repeat in concise form
- áttekintto summarize or repeat in concise form
- összefoglalto summarize or repeat in concise form
Irish achoimrigh
- achoimrighto summarize or repeat in concise form
Japanese 要約する
- 要約する (yōyaku suru)to summarize or repeat in concise form
Korean 요약하다
- 요약하다 (yoyakhada)to summarize or repeat in concise form
Portuguese recapitular
- recapitularto summarize or repeat in concise form
Romanian recapitula
- recapitulato summarize or repeat in concise form
Russian подыто́живать, подыто́жить
- подыто́живать (podytóživatʹ)to summarize or repeat in concise form
- подыто́жить (podytóžitʹ)to summarize or repeat in concise form
Scottish Gaelic ath-innis
- ath-innisto summarize or repeat in concise form
Spanish recapitular
- recapitularto summarize or repeat in concise form
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
recapitulate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recapitulate
“recapitulate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recapitulate. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recapitulate,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recapitulate.
Source: recapitulate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.