Meanings
plural recitations
- countableuncountableThe act of publicly reciting something previously memorized.
The recitation will air nationally and be featured at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
2021 January 27, Wayne Sterling, “Youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman to recite poem before Super Bowl LV”, in CNN - countableuncountableThe material recited.
- countableuncountableA regularly scheduled class, in a school, in which discussion occurs of the material covered in a parallel lecture.
Many of my courses, however, were offered in recitation-lecture format. We would attend class, say twice a week, and a lecture once a week. ... I do seem to recall that my recitation sections seldom had less than 40 to 50 students and my lecture classes often had upwards of 100 to 300 students.
1999 October 29, J. Levine, “Re: Debate on accreditation of Jones International”, in alt.education.distance (Usenet)2 more examples
I shall now endeavor to give some account of the College.... Some then go to a recitation of the lesson they have learnt the previous evening. Some return to their rooms till the breakfast-bell, about seven or after. At eight the sludy bell rings. All must then go in their rooms and continue there, even if they have no lessons to learn, unless they attend a recitation which occupies an hour.
1882, Wayside Gleanings for Leisure Moments, Cambridge University Press, page 201896, Frank Norris, "The 'English Courses' of the University of California", reprinted in, 1986, Novels and Essays, Library of America, →ISBN, page 1109, In the "announcement of courses" published annually by the faculty of the University of California the reader cannot fail to be impressed with the number and scope of the hours devoted by the students to recitations and lectures upon the subject of "literature."
- countableuncountableA reiteration; a setting down, e.g. for ease of reference, of something previously established.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory) something prepared in advance
nouna regularly scheduled session as part of a course of study
nounsystematic training by multiple repetitions
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinrecitatio
- Middle Frenchrécitation
- Englishrecitation
Borrowed from Middle French récitation, from Latin recitatio, equivalent to recite + -ation.
More words from Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تِلَاوَة
- تِلَاوَة (tilāwa)act of reciting
Bulgarian рецити́ране, деклами́ране
- рецити́ране (recitírane)act of reciting
- деклами́ране (deklamírane)act of reciting
Chinese Mandarin 背誦 /背诵, 朗誦 /朗诵
- 背誦 /背诵 (bèisòng)act of reciting
- 朗誦 /朗诵 (lǎngsòng)act of reciting
- 吟誦 /吟诵 (yínsòng)act of reciting
Czech recitace
- recitaceact of reciting
Danish recitation
- recitationact of reciting
Finnish lausunta, resitaatio
- lausuntaact of reciting
- resitaatioact of reciting
- resitointiact of reciting
French récitation, récitation
- récitationact of reciting
- récitationmaterial recited
German Rezitation, Vortragen
- Rezitationact of reciting
- Vortragenact of reciting
Greek απαγγελία, αφήγηση
- απαγγελία (apangelía)act of reciting
- αφήγηση (afígisi)act of reciting
Hebrew דִּקְלוּם
- דִּקְלוּם (diklúm)act of reciting
Hungarian szavalat
- szavalatact of reciting
Indonesian hafalan, penghafalan
- hafalanact of reciting
- penghafalanact of reciting
- hafalanmaterial recited
Irish aithriseoireacht, reacaireacht
- aithriseoireachtact of reciting
- reacaireachtact of reciting
Japanese 暗唱
- 暗唱 (anshō)act of reciting
Korean 암송, 낭송
- 암송 (amsong)act of reciting
- 낭송 (nangsong)act of reciting
- 낭독 (nangdok)act of reciting
Latin recitātiō
- recitātiōact of reciting
Polish recytacja, deklamacja
- recytacjaact of reciting
- deklamacjaact of reciting
- tekstmaterial recited
Romanian recitare
- recitareact of reciting
Russian деклама́ция, цити́рование
- деклама́ция (deklamácija)act of reciting
- цити́рование (citírovanije)act of reciting
- рецита́ция (recitácija)act of reciting
Spanish recitación
- recitaciónact of reciting
Welsh adroddiad
- adroddiadact of reciting
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with recitation
Anagrams
Cite this entry
recitation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recitation
“recitation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recitation. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “recitation,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/recitation.
Source: recitation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.