Definition

1. Noun:
   • A concise summary or restatement of the main points: A "recapitulation" is a final section that briefly repeats the key information or arguments presented earlier.
   • A musical repetition of themes: In music, especially in sonata form, a "recapitulation" is a section where the principal themes from the exposition are restated, typically in the tonic key.
   • A biological phenomenon in embryonic development: In biology, "recapitulation" refers to the theory that an embryo's developmental stages briefly and sequentially repeat the evolutionary history of its species.

Usage Examples

• As a summary:
  • The professor's recapitulation at the end of the lecture helped clarify the complex topic.
  • The final chapter provides a useful recapitulation of the book's major arguments.
• In music:
  • The sonata's recapitulation brings back the initial melody with a sense of resolution.
  • Listen for the recapitulation, where the main theme returns after the development section.
• In biology:
  • The presence of gill slits in human embryos is often cited as an example of recapitulation.

Advanced Usage

• "In recapitulation": Used to introduce a concluding summary.
  • In recapitulation, the three core principles are efficiency, transparency, and accountability.
• Thematic recapitulation: Can be used metaphorically outside of music to describe the return to a central idea.
  • The novel ends with a powerful recapitulation of its central theme of redemption.

Variants and Related Words

• Recapitulate (verb): To summarize and restate the main points.
  • She will recapitulate the plan before we vote.
• Recapitulatory (adjective): Having the nature of a recapitulation.
  • The essay's recapitulatory paragraph was very effective.

Synonyms

• Summary: A brief statement of main points.
• Recap (informal): A shortened form of "recapitulation."
• Restatement: Expressing the same idea again in different words.
• Reiteration: The action of repeating something.

Related Phrases

• Recapitulation theory: The biological theory, also known as "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny."
  • Recapitulation theory, while influential, is now considered an oversimplification.

Idioms

• None commonly associated directly with "recapitulation." The word itself is often used in formal or academic summaries.

Noun

1. (music) the repetition of themes introduced earlier (especially when one is composing the final part of a movement)
2. a summary at the end that repeats the substance of a longer discussion
3. (music) the section of a composition or movement (especially in sonata form) in which musical themes that were introduced earlier are repeated
4. emergence during embryonic development of various characters or structures that appeared during the evolutionary history of the strain or species