iterate

American  

[it-uh-rayt] / ˈɪt əˌreɪt /

verb (used with object)

iterated, iterating

1. to do (something) over again or repeatedly.

2. to utter again or repeatedly.

   Synonyms:

   rehearse, repeat, reiterate

3. to develop (a product, process, or idea) by building upon previous versions or iterations, using each version as the point of departure for refinements and tweaks: We iterate the app after each round of customer feedback.

   The manufacturer will iterate production and distribution schedules based on consumer demand.

   We iterate the app after each round of customer feedback.

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verb (used without object)

iterated, iterating

1. to operate or be applied repeatedly, as a linguistic rule or mathematical formula.

2. to create something by building on previous versions or iterations, using each version as the point of departure for refinements and tweaks.

   The game studio is iterating on all current animation sets to incorporate the popular new characters.

iterate British  

/ ˈɪtəˌreɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to say or do again; repeat

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Other Word Forms

• iteration
  noun
• iterant
  adjective
• uniterated
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of iterate

First recorded in 1525–35; < Latin iterātus, past participle of iterāre “to repeat, rehearse,” equivalent to iter- (stem of iterum “again”) + -ātus -ate ¹

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Explanation

To iterate is to repeat, as in to say or perform something again. If you loved the high school drama club’s performance of the “Three Little Pigs,” encourage them to iterate the musical so you can see it again. And again. Iterate comes from the Latin word iterare for "do again, repeat.” Iterate is a transitive verb, so you have to iterate something. A successful play or concert will usually iterate a performance, so more people can see it. People often iterate a point, by repeating, they hope others will understand it better. Politicians often iterate key points. The word reiterate is more familiar, and means something very similar — to repeat something for emphasis.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

iterate iterated iterating

The company has been able to build and iterate faster with the technology, allowing it to ship more new features and improvements compared to a year ago.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The campus is a 30-minute drive from Anduril’s Costa Mesa headquarters and about 90 minutes from the company’s Capistrano test site, the company said, allowing teams to design, test, and iterate quickly across locations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 22, 2026

"Your brain's fluid system is trying to restore function by pushing the brain to iterate between high-attention and high-flow states."

From Science Daily ● Jan. 20, 2026

"We're excited about what the future holds with Meta and Manus working together and we will continue to iterate the product and serve users that have defined Manus from the beginning."

From BBC ● Dec. 30, 2025

Over the next two hours we submerge ourselves in finding the sums of infinite geometric series, calculating iterate functions, and expanding powers of binomials.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

The same applies to portfolio construction and risk work: News shocks, once exclusive to bespoke quant infrastructure, can be triggered and iterated through natural-language interfaces.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 25, 2026

The Neo-Futurists’ signature style involves presenting many very short plays in one evening: The original mission was to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes, but that idea has been iterated on over the years.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024

Knowing that it had not yet achieved its goal, AI quickly iterated on the design.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 3, 2023

The agencies have since applied the best available science and iterated their definitions through the courts.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 15, 2023

This is iterated a few more times, until 500 people have received six straight correct “predictions.”

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

But when you’re iterating so quickly in poker — hand after hand, decision after decision — it gets into your bones in a way that reading about it doesn’t.

From MarketWatch ● May 12, 2026

One big difference between the two types of teams, he said, is the way AI-forward teams embrace uncertainty: “Trying something, learning quickly, and iterating becomes far less risky than trying to plan everything up front.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026

"They're not overnight successes, they've spent time building their audiences, iterating their content and looking at what works," she told the BBC.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025

“We were constantly iterating and soft-locked the movie before beginning the animation with Howard E. Baker and his team at Pure Imagination Studios,” who had worked on Lego versions of “Batman,” “Jurassic World” and “Minions.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024

Some people get out of this difficulty by iterating the name so as to compel respect.

From Maids Wives and Bachelors by Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr

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