repetition

American  

[rep-i-tish-uhn] / ˌrɛp ɪˈtɪʃ ən /

noun

• repetitions
  plural

1. 

   the act of repeating, or doing, saying, or writing something again; repeated action, performance, production, or presentation.

2. repeated utterance; reiteration.

3. something made by or resulting from repeating.

4. a reproduction, copy, or replica.

5. Civil Law. an action or demand for the recovery of a payment or delivery made by error or upon failure to fulfill a condition.

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repetition British  

/ ˌrɛpɪˈtɪʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of repeating; reiteration

2. a thing, word, action, etc, that is repeated

3. a replica or copy

4. civil law Scots law the recovery or repayment of money paid or received by mistake, as when the same bill has been paid twice

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonrepetition
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• repetitions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of repetition

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Old French repeticion ) < Latin repetītiōn- (stem of repetītiō ), equivalent to repetīt ( us ) (past participle of repetere to repeat ) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

Use the noun repetition to describe something that is repeated over and over, like the repetition of singing the alphabet song several times a day to help young children learn the letters. To correctly pronounce repetition, accent the third syllable: "re-peh-TIH-shun." Repetition and the closely related repeat come from the Latin word repetere, meaning "do or say again." It can be a very effective tool in public speaking, such as the repetition of "I have a dream that one day . . ." in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

repetition repetitions

"I want to be absolutely confident that we have all of the facts of the case and that we can take mitigating measures to ensure that there is no repetition of this."

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

It made us appreciate practice, repetition and self-discipline—building blocks for both life and football.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

"She formulated a philosophy of art she dubbed 'self-obliteration' based on simple motifs of obsessive repetition and proliferation," according to her website.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

With a beveled chord progression and a haunting repetition of the name, it became perhaps her most requested song, and was covered by many, including the White Stripes, Candi Staton, Reba McEntire and Olivia Newton-John.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

The smallest part of Rowan’s day, just before dinner, was spent in book learning—but Rowan found that the mental training helped him retain the things he learned without the repetition of study.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

"Sniffing a 90% dark chocolate odor added about 18 more repetitions to participants' leg extensions, while a 60% milk chocolate odor added about nine repetitions compared to the water control," said Nashrudin Naharudin.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

The countless repetitions give you the most beautiful art form where swans glide, fairies dance and every year a giant nutcracker appears.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026

As it’s around 300 pages long, including innumerable repetitions, you may ask if the length and density is a bug or a feature.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

He might not take several weeks off before each one, but he has a new appreciation for the importance of arriving early and getting in repetitions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

Books and loud noises, flowers and electric shocks—already in the infant mind these couples were compromisingly linked; and after two hundred repetitions of the same or a similar lesson would be wedded indissolubly.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

Related Words

• litany
• recurrence
• reiteration
• repeat
• rhythm