recitation

American  

[res-i-tey-shuhn] / ˌrɛs ɪˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

1. an act of reciting.

2. a reciting or repeating of something from memory, especially formally or publicly.

3. oral response by a pupil or pupils to a teacher on a prepared lesson.

4. a period of classroom instruction.

5. an elocutionary delivery of a piece of poetry or prose, without the text, before an audience.

6. a piece so delivered or for such delivery.

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recitation British  

/ ˌrɛsɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse before an audience

2. something recited

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Other Word Forms

• nonrecitation noun

Etymology

Origin of recitation

1475–85; < Latin recitātiōn- (stem of recitātiō ), equivalent to recitāt ( us ) (past participle of recitāre to recite ) + -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

What the book is not is a recitation of big games and important goals.

From Los Angeles Times

Him and Charlie gave each other a wide berth whenever they weren’t down on the recitation bench.

From Literature

There, nightly recitation of the rosary and the constant threat of Moran’s simmering rage hold sway.

From The Wall Street Journal

The next day, ERShares filed a prospectus amendment including a long recitation of such disclosures.

From The Wall Street Journal

The nizam’s court, with its sumptuous palaces, its concubines, its rituals and recitations of poetry and music, was the chief inheritor of the archaic grandeur of the moguls.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• monologue
• narration
• oration
• recital
• recounting
• rendering