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recital

[ri-sahyt-l]
See more 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.
  3. a program or concert by dance or music students to demonstrate their achievements or progress.
  4. an act or instance of reciting.
  5. a formal or public delivery of something memorized.
  6. a detailed statement.
  7. an account, narrative, or description: He gave a recital of the things he'd been doing since we'd last seen him.
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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. 2018

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

Historical Examples of recital

  • Is it possible that in so short a time—if the recital be not too painful, pray explain.

  • "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
  1. a musical performance by a soloist or soloistsCompare concert (def. 1)
  2. the act of reciting or repeating something learned or prepared
  3. an account, narration, or description
  4. a detailed statement of facts, figures, etc
  5. (often plural) law the preliminary statement in a deed showing the reason for its existence and leading up to and explaining the operative part
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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

n.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper