to recapitulate
1
9.9
- verb
- /ˌriːkəˈpɪtʃʊleɪt/
- Archaic
:
recapitular
- Angiosarcomas are malignant tumors that recapitulate many of the functional and morphologic features of normal endothelium.
- ontogeny recapitulates
- recapitulates phylogeny
Examples
-
I said that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.
Fiction book (1990) -
Much of evolution is recapitulated during human gestation.
Academic text (2003) -
The development of the individual recapitulates the development of the species.
Fiction book (1998) -
Christ came to "recapitulate" the intended evolution of humanity toward maturity.
Academic text (2010) -
I notice in myself that I recapitulate certain developmental stages that have taken place in human culture.
Blog text (12) -
The example from the conger eel shows that the problem disappears if we recapitulate the actual evolutionary change from AncCONGER A to CONGER A.
Academic text (2012) -
And this is precisely the ontogeny recapitulated by Proust in the phylogeny of the narrator's consciousness.
Academic text (1999) -
The growth of the embryo recapitulates the evolutionary history of its species.
-
During early development, the organism recapitulates the stages its ancestors went through.
-
In her research, she observed how the aquatic stages recapitulate critical advancements seen in evolutionary history.
Synonyms
3
2.9
Repeat a test or experiment to check the results
Surface Forms
Morphology
recapitulate = capitulate (semi-transparent) = re + capitulate
In the biological sense 'recapitulate' literally means 'go through chapters/stages again' (re- + root for 'chapter/head'), so the notion of repetition is etymologically clear but the root is not productive in modern English.
Etymology
Recapitulate comes from the Latin parts re- ('again') and caput ('head'), where 'head' can mean a main stage or chapter, so an old idea in biology used the word to say an embryo 'repeats' the main stages of its species. That is why in biology recapitulate once meant to go through earlier stages again.