Meanings
plural recapitulations · alternative dated re-capitulation
- countableuncountableA subsequent brief recitement or enumeration of the major points in a narrative, article, or book.
The dolorous effects of the second world war on train services, and its protracted legacies of over-age equipment and shortages of material for replacement, are too fresh in memory to require recapitulation here; […].
1957 July 28, D. S. M. Barrie, “Sixty Years of British Express Trains”, in Railway Magazine, pages 455-456Synonyms: summary
- countableuncountableentertainmentThe third major section of a musical movement written in sonata form, representing thematic material that originally appeared in the exposition section.
1 more example
In classical music there are, as the analytical programs tell us, first subjects and second subjects, free fantasias, recapitulations, and codas; there are fugues, with counter-subjects, strettos, and pedal points; there are passacaglias on ground basses, canons ad hypodiapente, and other ingenuities, which have, after all, stood or fallen by their prettiness as much as the simplest folk-tune.
1902 [1898], [George] Bernard Shaw, The Perfect Wagnerite […] , second edition, London: Grant Richards, page 3 - countableuncountablebiologyThe reenactment of the embryonic development in evolution of the species.
- countableuncountablelifestyleThe symmetry provided by Christ's life to the teachings of the Old Testament; the summation of human experience in Jesus Christ.
one would expect God's final purpose to be expressed in his created world, since the doctrine of recapitulation showed that this is where his plans had worked out before.
2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin, published 2010, page 144
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA subsequent brief recitement or enumeration of the major points in a narrative, article, or book.
More synonyms by meaning
nounemergence during embryonic development of various characters or structures that appeared during the evolutionary history of the strain or species
nouna summary at the end that repeats the substance of a longer discussion
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinrecapitulatio“summing up, summary”
- Middle Frenchrecapitulacion
- Anglo-Normanrecapitulaciun
- Englishrecapitulation
From Anglo-Norman recapitulaciun et al., Middle French recapitulacion et al., or their source, from Late Latin recapitulatio (“summing up, summary”), from the participle stem of recapitulare (“recapitulate”), from re- + capitulum (“chapter, section”), diminutive of caput (“head”).
More words from Anglo-Norman, Middle French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian резюме
- резюме (rezjume)subsequent enumeration of the major points
Catalan recapitulació
- recapitulaciósubsequent enumeration of the major points
Chinese Mandarin 概括, 再現部 /再现部
- 概括 (gàikuò)subsequent enumeration of the major points
- 再現部 /再现部music: third major part of a movement in sonata form
Czech rekapitulace
- rekapitulacesubsequent enumeration of the major points
Dutch recapitulatie
- recapitulatiesubsequent enumeration of the major points
Finnish yhteenveto, kertausjakso
- yhteenvetosubsequent enumeration of the major points
- kertausjaksomusic: third major part of a movement in sonata form
French récapitulation, réexposition
- récapitulationsubsequent enumeration of the major points
- réexpositionmusic: third major part of a movement in sonata form
German Rekapitulation, Reprise
- Rekapitulationsubsequent enumeration of the major points
- Reprisemusic: third major part of a movement in sonata form
Greek ανακεφαλαίωση
- ανακεφαλαίωση (anakefalaíosi)subsequent enumeration of the major points
Indonesian ikhtisar, rekapitulasi
- ikhtisarsubsequent enumeration of the major points
- rekapitulasisubsequent enumeration of the major points
- ringkasansubsequent enumeration of the major points
Irish achoimriú
- achoimriúsubsequent enumeration of the major points
Italian ricapitolazione
- ricapitolazionesubsequent enumeration of the major points
Japanese 要約
- 要約 (yōyaku)subsequent enumeration of the major points
Korean 개요
- 개요 (gaeyo)subsequent enumeration of the major points
Latin recapitulatio
- recapitulatiosubsequent enumeration of the major points
Polish streszczenie
- streszczeniesubsequent enumeration of the major points
Portuguese recapitulação
- recapitulaçãosubsequent enumeration of the major points
Russian суммирование
- суммирование (summirovanije)subsequent enumeration of the major points
Scottish Gaelic ath-innse
- ath-innsesubsequent enumeration of the major points
Spanish recapitulación, reexposición
- recapitulaciónsubsequent enumeration of the major points
- reexposiciónmusic: third major part of a movement in sonata form
Swedish rekapitulering, sammanfattning
- rekapituleringsubsequent enumeration of the major points
- sammanfattningsubsequent enumeration of the major points
- rekapitulationsubsequent enumeration of the major points
Cite this entry
recapitulation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recapitulation
“recapitulation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recapitulation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recapitulation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recapitulation.
Source: recapitulation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.