recital

[ri-sahyt-l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR recital ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a musical entertainment given usually by a single performer or by a performer and one or more accompanists.

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

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

an act or instance of reciting.

a formal or public delivery of something memorized.

a detailed statement.

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

First recorded in 1505–15; recite + -al²

Related formsre·cit·al·ist, nounnon·re·cit·al, noun, adjectivepre·re·cit·al, noun

Synonym study

7. See narrative.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for recital

concert, rehearsal, recitation, reading, presentation, musical, repetition, description, recapitulation, fable, portrayal, account, enumeration, tale, report, relation, statement, narration, telling, performance

Examples from the Web for recital

Contemporary Examples of recital

She warbled and wobbled through the recital and was greeted with thunderous applause.
Dead Cool: Florence Foster Jenkins
Simon Doonan
July 10, 2010
There is no fear, here—at least not of something as insignificant as a recital.
Alice, Bratty in Wonderland
Nicole LaPorte
February 28, 2010

Historical Examples of recital

Is it possible that in so short a time—if the recital be not too painful, pray explain.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
"Certainly," I replied, deeply sighing at the recital of so lame a story.
Lady Susan
Jane Austen
At the conclusion of this recital he called to the Leopard Woman.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
The feeling with which I had listened to this recital had become intolerable.
Green Mansions
W. H. Hudson
So my rascals ever did with me, though in good truth I seldom listened to their recital.
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle

British Dictionary definitions for recital

recital

noun

a musical performance by a soloist or soloistsCompare concert (def. 1)

the act of reciting or repeating something learned or prepared

an account, narration, or description

a detailed statement of facts, figures, etc

(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 Formsrecitalist, 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

Word Origin and History for recital

1510s, a legal term, "rehearsal or statement of relevant facts," from recite + -al. Meaning "act of reciting" is from 1610s; musical performance sense is from 1811.