recitation

American  

[res-i-tey-shuhn] / ˌrɛs ɪˈteɪ ʃən /

noun

recitations plural

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

Derived Forms

• nonrecitation
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• recitations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of recitation

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

Explanation

If you've ever repeated a rhyming poem from memory in front of an audience, you've given a recitation. The noun recitation comes from the word "recite." When you recite, or say something you've memorized, you give a recitation. This happens a lot in school and in religious traditions, but you might also hear your know-it-all friend give an impromptu recitation of a famous director's films or every Beatles song in alphabetical order. The word comes from the Latin prefix re, "again," and the word citare, "to summon." Summoning again from memory is recitation.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recitation recitations

As Othello, Mr. Quinn is at first surprisingly soft-spoken, not putting too much polish on the character’s transfixing eloquence—“the Othello music,” as critics have called it—in his recitation of how he won Desdemona’s love.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

On the surface, this might seem like a straightforward recitation of the 14th Amendment’s text.

From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2025

On the outside, it seems like it’s a quiet, calm ballad as it opens; Ellis on guitar, a recitation of the story of "a girl who’s got no history / got no past."

From Salon ● May 13, 2025

At noon, the ceremony began with a recitation of Winston Churchill's famous VE Day speech by actor Timothy Spall.

From BBC ● May 5, 2025

Again I was sent to a guidance counselor and sat in a wooden chair while he made a recitation of my faults.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

Like his Instagram account, there are contextless videos and spoken-word recitations.

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

His spoken recitations make such detailed vintage poems as “The Round Corral” and “Cattle” effortless to follow.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026

Those familiar with his campaign-rally routines will know Trump’s many recitations of “The Snake,” something he refers to as a poem but is really a song from the 1960s.

From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026

Tadjadit became prominent for his public recitations during protests by the Hirak movement, which erupted in February 2019 and helped force the resignation of longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2025

The dominant, also called the reciting tone or tenor, was the note most often used for long recitations on the same pitch.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

Related Words

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