MEANING
1. To restate the principal points of an earlier account.
2. In biological theories, to repeat ancestral stages during individual development.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- recapitulate an argument
- recapitulate the findings
On the page
The conclusion recapitulates the findings without adding new claims.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- recapitulate
- Past tense
- recapitulated
- Past participle
- recapitulated
- Present participle
- recapitulating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- recapitulate
- Present continuous
- am/is/are recapitulating
- Present perfect
- have/has recapitulated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been recapitulating
- Past
- recapitulated
- Past continuous
- was/were recapitulating
- Past perfect
- had recapitulated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been recapitulating
- Future
- will recapitulate
- Future continuous
- will be recapitulating
- Future perfect
- will have recapitulated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been recapitulating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: recapitulate; recapitulates; recapitulated; recapitulated; recapitulating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: analysis, qualification. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: recapitulates.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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