recapitulation n emergence during embryonic development of various characters or structures that appeared during the evolutionary history of the strain or species n (music) the section of a composition or movement (especially in sonata form) in which musical themes that were introduced earlier are repeated n a summary at the end that repeats the substance of a longer discussion n (music) the repetition of themes introduced earlier (especially when one is composing the final part of a movement) Usage(s) As in the phase of his story concerning his escape from the Oldsmobile, his recapitulation raises odd questions. Still Rayburn refused to announce the vote, broke House custom by ordering a recapitulation first. But the record of the past emphatically suggests that we are not suffering through a play-by-play recapitulation of the catastrophe of the 1930s. Synonym(s) palingenesis recap review Antonym(s) cenogenesis