recapitulate

/ˈrikəˌpɪtʃəˈleɪt/

Other forms: recapitulated; recapitulating; recapitulates

To recapitulate means to go back and summarize. At the end of an oral report, you might say, "So, to recapitulate, I've made three points," and then you name them.

Recapitulate is a long, scary-looking word that actually means something simple and easy. It comes from the Latin re- "again" and capitulum "chapter," which comes from the word caput "head." Think of recapitulating––or recapping, for short––as putting nice little caps on all the bottles you've opened up––tightening everything up.

Definitions of recapitulate

1. verb

   summarize briefly
   “Let's recapitulate the main ideas”

   synonyms: recap

   types:

   hash over, rehash, retrograde

   go back over

   type of:

   resume, sum up, summarise, summarize

   give a summary (of)
2. verb

   repeat stages of evolutionary development during the embryonic phase of life
   type of:

   double, duplicate, reduplicate, repeat, replicate

   make or do or perform again
3. verb

   repeat an earlier theme of a composition
   synonyms: repeat, reprise, reprize

   type of:

   play, spiel

   replay (as a melody)