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recital

[ri-sahyt-l]
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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

Examples from the Web for recital

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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