recapitulate

American  

[ree-kuh-pich-uh-leyt] / ˌri kəˈpɪtʃ əˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

recapitulated, recapitulating

1. to review by a brief summary, as at the end of a speech or discussion; summarize.

2. Biology. (of an organism) to repeat (ancestral evolutionary stages) in its development.

3. Music. to restate (the exposition) in a sonata-form movement.

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verb (used without object)

recapitulated, recapitulating

1. to sum up statements or matters.

recapitulate British  

/ ˌriːkəˈpɪtjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. to restate the main points of (an argument, speech, etc); summarize

2. (tr) (of an animal) to repeat (stages of its evolutionary development) during the embryonic stages of its life

3. to repeat at some point during a piece of music (material used earlier in the same work)

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Related Words

See repeat.

Other Word Forms

• recapitulative adjective

Etymology

Origin of recapitulate

First recorded in 1560–70; from Late Latin recapitulātus (past participle of recapitulāre ), equivalent to re- re- + capitulātus; capitulate

Example Sentences

“It would be tedious as well as unwelcome,” Lord Halifax said on another occasion, “to recapitulate all our wrong steps.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 8, 2026

Stopping these toxins could save countless lives and limbs, but laboratory research usually relies on cell-based research, which doesn’t accurately recapitulate what happens in a living animal.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 5, 2024

So we and many others have worked for decades to make a medicine that could recapitulate that naturally-occurring phenomenon.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 15, 2024

The organoids recapitulate hallmarks of pregestational diabetes-induced congenital heart disease found in mice and humans.

From Science Daily • Feb. 8, 2024

Yet, uncannily, the trajectory of his psyche had begun to recapitulate Jagu’s.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Related Words

• recap
• rehash