recital

[ ri-sahyt-l ]
See synonyms for recital on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a musical entertainment given usually by a single performer or by a performer and one or more accompanists.

  2. a similar entertainment in a field other than music: a dance recital.

  1. a program or concert by dance or music students to demonstrate their achievements or progress.

  2. an act or instance of reciting.

  3. a formal or public delivery of something memorized.

  4. a detailed statement.

  5. an account, narrative, or description: He gave a recital of the things he'd been doing since we'd last seen him.

Origin of recital

1
First recorded in 1505–15; recite + -al2

synonym study For recital

7. See narrative.

Other words from recital

  • re·cit·al·ist, noun
  • non·re·cit·al, noun, adjective
  • pre·re·cit·al, noun

Words Nearby recital

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use recital in a sentence

  • It happened late in the day and captured about as much attention as a middle-school band recital.

  • By age 4, Condoleezza had already given her first music recital.

    One Woman's War on Gangs | Christine Pelisek | October 18, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • She warbled and wobbled through the recital and was greeted with thunderous applause.

  • There is no fear, here—at least not of something as insignificant as a recital.

    Alice, Bratty in Wonderland | Nicole LaPorte | February 28, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • He need not stop further study, but whatever else he learns let him at least practise this daily recital for one month.

    Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
  • He produced a watch and studied it frowningly, then dismissed us and the recital of our troubles with a ponderous gesture.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • She eyed his crafty face narrowly, as she inquired whether there was any news, and listened to his recital of Toby Crackits story.

  • More than once the young officer would have cut short the recital, but this Havelock would not permit.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • She is explaining a very sad “histoire” to the “type” next to her, intense in the recital of her woes.

    The Real Latin Quarter | F. Berkeley Smith

British Dictionary definitions for recital

recital

/ (rɪˈsaɪtəl) /


noun
  1. a musical performance by a soloist or soloists: Compare concert (def. 1)

  2. the act of reciting or repeating something learned or prepared

  1. an account, narration, or description

  2. a detailed statement of facts, figures, etc

  3. (often plural) law the preliminary statement in a deed showing the reason for its existence and leading up to and explaining the operative part

Derived forms of recital

  • recitalist, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012