recitation

[res-i-tey-shuh n]

See more synonyms for recitation on Thesaurus.com

noun

an act of reciting.
a reciting or repeating of something from memory, especially formally or publicly.
oral response by a pupil or pupils to a teacher on a prepared lesson.

a period of classroom instruction.
an elocutionary delivery of a piece of poetry or prose, without the text, before an audience.
a piece so delivered or for such delivery.

Origin of recitation

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

Related formsnon·rec·i·ta·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for recitation

recital, rendering, oration, narration, monologue, recounting, delivery, selection, performance, passage, discussion, piece, proclamation, exercise, rehearsal, telling, discourse, speaking, address, report

Examples from the Web for recitation

Contemporary Examples of recitation

Poindexter followed with a recitation of the Iran program filled with deliberate inaccuracies.
How the Reagan White House Bungled Its Response to Iran-Contra Revelations
Malcolm Byrne
November 3, 2014
Any list of his conspicuous qualities turns out to be a recitation of opposites.
Will the Real Jim Palmer Please Stand Up
Tom Boswell
September 27, 2014

Historical Examples of recitation

She overslept and missed her first recitation yesterday morning.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
She had no word ready when called on for a recitation herself.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
We sit patiently through a recitation in English literature.
College Teaching
Paul Klapper
The recitation, in truth, becomes the simple game of "hot and cold."
College Teaching
Paul Klapper
The first class in Geography is so large that we have not room in the recitation seats.
The Teacher
Jacob Abbott

British Dictionary definitions for recitation

recitation

noun

the act of reciting from memory, or a formal reading of verse before an audience
something recited

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 recitation

late 15c., "act of detailing," from Old French récitation (14c.) and directly from Latin recitationem (nominative recitatio) "public reading, a reading aloud," noun of action from past participle stem of recitare (see recite). Meaning "act of repeating aloud" is from 1620s; that of "repetition of a prepared lesson" is first recorded 1770, American English.