Meanings
- not comparableOf a feeling, action or such: mutual, uniformly felt or done by each party towards the other or others; two-way.
reciprocal love
3 more examples
reciprocal duties
a reciprocal invitation to lunch
Let our reciprocall vowes be remembred.
c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vi], page 304, column 2Synonyms: reciprocating
- not comparableMutually interchangeable.
These two rules will render a definition reciprocal with the thing defined.
1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […], published 1726, →OCLC - not comparablegrammarExpressing mutual action, applied to pronouns and verbs; also in a broad sense: reflexive.
- not comparablemathematicsUsed to denote different kinds of mutual relation; often with reference to the substitution of reciprocals for given quantities.
plural reciprocals
- arithmeticThe number obtained by dividing 1 by another given number; the result of exchanging the numerator and the denominator of a fraction.
0.5 is the reciprocal of 2.
Synonyms: multiplicative inverse
- grammarA construction expressing mutual action.
Depending on where reciprocalization applies (syntax vs. lexicon), the relevant reciprocal verbs are claimed to exhibit specific properties, in particular: (i) syntactic reciprocals are fully productive whereas lexical reciprocals have only limited productivity; […]
2008, Ekkehard König, Volker Gast, Reciprocals and Reflexives: Theoretical and Typological Explorations
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveOf a feeling, action or such: mutual, uniformly felt or done by each party towards the other or others; two-way.
nounThe number obtained by dividing 1 by another given number; the result of exchanging the numerator and the denominator of a fraction.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveconcerning each of two or more persons or things; especially given or done in return
adjectiveof or relating to the multiplicative inverse of a quantity or function
noun(mathematics) one of a pair of numbers whose product is 1: the reciprocal of 2/3 is 3/2; the multiplicative inverse of 7 is 1/7
nounhybridization involving a pair of crosses that reverse the sexes associated with each genotype
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinreciprocus
- Englishreciprocal
From Latin reciprocus, possibly from a phrase such as reque proque (“back and forth, to and fro”), from re- (“back”), prō (“forwards”) and -que (“and”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُتَبَادَل, مَقْلُوب
- مُتَبَادَل (mutabādal)done by each of two people towards the other
- مَقْلُوب (maqlūb)in mathematics
Bulgarian взаи́мен, реципро́чен
- взаи́мен (vzaímen)done by each of two people towards the other
- реципро́чен (recipróčen)done, given, felt, or owed in return
Catalan recíproc, mutu
- recíprocdone by each of two people towards the other
- mutudone by each of two people towards the other
- al revésdone, given, felt, or owed in return
- a l'inrevésdone, given, felt, or owed in return
Chinese Mandarin 相互, 互相
- 相互 (xiānghù)done by each of two people towards the other
- 互相 (hùxiāng)done by each of two people towards the other
- 互惠 (hùhuì)done by each of two people towards the other
- 倒数in mathematics
Czech vzájemný, reciproký
- vzájemnýdone by each of two people towards the other
- reciprokýdone by each of two people towards the other
- převrácená hodnotain mathematics
Danish reciprok
- reciprokdone by each of two people towards the other
Dutch omgekeerde
- omgekeerdein mathematics
Esperanto reciproka
- reciprokadone by each of two people towards the other
Finnish vastavuoroinen, päinvastainen
- vastavuoroinendone by each of two people towards the other
- päinvastainendone, given, felt, or owed in return
- käänteislukuin mathematics
French réciproque, réciproque
- réciproquedone by each of two people towards the other
- réciproquegrammar: expressing mutual action, applied to pronouns and verbs
- inversein mathematics
German gegenseitig, reziprok
- gegenseitigdone by each of two people towards the other
- reziprokdone by each of two people towards the other
- entgegengesetztdone, given, felt, or owed in return
- umgekehrtdone, given, felt, or owed in return
- Kehrwertin mathematics
Greek αμοιβαίος
- αμοιβαίος (amoivaíos)done by each of two people towards the other
Hebrew הדדי, הופכי
- הדדי (hadadi)done by each of two people towards the other
- הופכיin mathematics
- הָפְכִּי (hofkí)in mathematics
Hindi आपसी, पारस्परिक
- आपसी (āpsī)done by each of two people towards the other
- पारस्परिक (pārasparik)done by each of two people towards the other
Hungarian kölcsönös, viszonos
- kölcsönösdone by each of two people towards the other
- viszonosdone by each of two people towards the other
- kölcsönösgrammar: expressing mutual action, applied to pronouns and verbs
- viszonzódone, given, felt, or owed in return
- viszont-done, given, felt, or owed in return
- reciprokin mathematics
Icelandic umhverfa, margföldunarumhverfa
- umhverfain mathematics
- margföldunarumhverfain mathematics
- margföldunarandhverfain mathematics
Indonesian timbal balik
- timbal balikdone by each of two people towards the other
Japanese 逆数
- 逆数 (gyakusū)in mathematics
Latin mūtuus, reciprocus
- mūtuusdone by each of two people towards the other
- reciprocusdone by each of two people towards the other
Lithuanian savitarpinis
- savitarpinisdone by each of two people towards the other
Māori whakautuutu, whakautuutu
- whakautuutudone by each of two people towards the other
- whakautuutudone, given, felt, or owed in return
- tau huripokiin mathematics
- tau taupokiin mathematics
Norwegian Bokmål gjensidig, gjensidig
- gjensidigdone by each of two people towards the other
- gjensidigdone, given, felt, or owed in return
Polish obopólny, obustronny
- obopólnydone by each of two people towards the other
- obustronnydone by each of two people towards the other
- wzajemnydone by each of two people towards the other
- zwrotnygrammar: expressing mutual action, applied to pronouns and verbs
- odwrotnydone, given, felt, or owed in return
- odwrotnośćin mathematics
Portuguese recíproco, recíproca
- recíprocodone by each of two people towards the other
- recíprocain mathematics
Romanian reciproc, reciprocă
- reciprocdone by each of two people towards the other
- reciprocădone by each of two people towards the other
- inversdone, given, felt, or owed in return
Russian взаи́мный, обою́дный
- взаи́мный (vzaímnyj)done by each of two people towards the other
- обою́дный (obojúdnyj)done by each of two people towards the other
- обра́тный (obrátnyj)done, given, felt, or owed in return
Slovak vzájomný
- vzájomnýdone by each of two people towards the other
Spanish mutuo, recíproco
- mutuodone by each of two people towards the other
- recíprocodone by each of two people towards the other
- al revésdone, given, felt, or owed in return
Swedish ömsesidig, invers
- ömsesidigdone by each of two people towards the other
- inversin mathematics
Tagalog kabaligtad
- kabaligtadin mathematics
Turkish çift taraflı, karşılıklı
- çift taraflıdone by each of two people towards the other
- karşılıklıdone by each of two people towards the other
Ukrainian взає́мний
- взає́мний (vzajémnyj)done by each of two people towards the other
Vietnamese đối ứng, đối ứng
- đối ứngdone by each of two people towards the other
- đối ứngdone, given, felt, or owed in return
Welsh cilyddol, dwyochrog
- cilyddoldone by each of two people towards the other
- dwyochrogdone by each of two people towards the other
- cilyddoldone, given, felt, or owed in return
Cite this entry
reciprocal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reciprocal
“reciprocal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reciprocal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “reciprocal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/reciprocal.
Source: reciprocal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.