recapitulate
/ɹiːkəˈpɪtʃʊleɪt/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.88 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To 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.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The entire symphony was recapitulated in the last four bars."
- "We still have five minutes left, so let's recapitulate the lecture."
- "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."
- "Similarly this concept of unity provided a powerful impetus for embryological studies and the idea that fetal development recapitulates the steps of phylogenetic development."
Etymology
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.
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /ɹiːkəˈpɪtʃʊleɪt/