recital

American  

[ri-sahyt-l] / rɪˈsaɪt l /

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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recital British  

/ rɪˈsaɪtəl /

noun

1. a musical performance by a soloist or soloists Compare concert

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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Related Words

See narrative.

Other Word Forms

• nonrecital noun
• prerecital noun
• recitalist noun

Etymology

Origin of recital

First recorded in 1505–15; recite + -al ²

Example Sentences

Our waiter overhears my mom’s impromptu poetry recital and tells us that the statue was built years ago and kept in storage for over a decade because Spaniards are divided in their feelings for Lorca.

From Literature

But what was once known as the Lieder recital — the German title for songs in a genre once dominated by Schubert, Schumann, Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss — has approached its sell-by date.

From Los Angeles Times

But Forté was actually “an inquisitive 8-year-old who played the violin in a youth orchestra and even had a recital at the vaunted Brooklyn Academy of Music,” according to GQ.

From Los Angeles Times

I like “organ recitals”—impromptu get-togethers where old people rehash their illnesses.

From The Wall Street Journal

His stern, just-the-facts Joe Friday recitals of arrests, seizures, drug lab takedowns and other enforcement actions are signature moments at presidential news briefings.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• concert
• musical
• presentation
• reading
• recitation
• rehearsal