Dictionary

recapitulate en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ɹiːkəˈpɪtʃʊleɪt/ (Canada, UK)
• (Southern-England) audio

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.

Meanings

1. (ambitransitive) To summarize or repeat in concise form.
   • The entire symphony was recapitulated in the last four bars.
   • We still have five minutes left, so let's recapitulate the lecture.
2. (transitive) To reproduce or closely resemble (as in structure or function).
   • 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:
3. (of an organism, transitive) 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.
   • 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:

Forms

Antonyms

expound · spell out

Deriveds

recapitulatory · recapitulative · ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny · recapitulant · recapitulation

Hypernyms

review · condense

Hyponyms

brief

Relateds

in summary · capitulate

Synonyms

run through · sum · capsule · summarize · run over · recapitulate · abstract · synopsize · wrap up · outline · epitomize · abridge · docket · recap (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · nutshell · précis · tl;dr · sum up (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · gist · encapsulate · concise · redact

Translations (38)

de rekapitulieren (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · fi rekapituloida (to repeat the evolutionary stages of an organism) · cmn 總結 /总结 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · ru подыто́жить (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · ro recapitula (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · hu áttekint (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · es recapitular (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 概述 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · ja 要約する (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · eo resumi (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 小結 /小结 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · de sich vergegenwärtigen (noch einmal) (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 總括 /总括 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 摘要 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · de wiederholen (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · pt recapitular (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 歸結 /归结 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · fi tehdä yhteenveto (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · ar لَخَّصَ (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · bg резюмирам (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · de zusammenfassen (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · hy ամփոփել (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · fi seurata (to repeat the evolutionary stages of an organism) · hu összefoglal (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · fi vetää yhteen (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · fr récapituler (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 歸納 /归纳 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · ga achoimrigh (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · ru подыто́живать (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · gd ath-innis (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 擇要 /择要 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · kk түйіндеу (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · hu átismétel (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · ko 요약하다 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 概括 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · nl samenvatten (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 匯總 /汇总 (to summarize or repeat in concise form) · cmn 提要 (to summarize or repeat in concise form)