recital

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /rɪˈsaɪtəl/ UK /rɪˈsaɪtəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a public performance of music or a detailed account of facts

The young violinist gave her first solo recital to a packed hall.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a public performance of... performance concert account narration recitation rendition

Word family

Related forms recite recitation recitative

Etymology

From recite + -al; recite from Latin recitare ('to read out, repeat aloud'), from re- ('again') + citare ('to summon, call'), from ciere ('to set in motion').

recitare Latin citare Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# recital

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈsaɪtəl/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈsaɪtəl/

## Meanings
1. a public performance of music or a detailed account of facts

## Examples
- The young violinist gave her first solo recital to a packed hall.

## Synonyms
- performance
- concert
- account
- narration
- recitation
- rendition

## Related Forms
- recite
- recitation
- recitative

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: recitare
- Root: citare

## Etymology
From recite + -al; recite from Latin recitare ('to read out, repeat aloud'), from re- ('again') + citare ('to summon, call'), from ciere ('to set in motion').

## AI Etymology
Recital comes from recite + -al; recite from Latin recitare ('to read out, repeat aloud'), from re- ('again') + citare ('to summon, call'), from ciere ('to set in motion'). The historical chain includes Latin recitare and Latin citare. Older glosses in the chain include "to read out, repeat aloud", "again", "to summon, call", and "to set in motion", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, recital is best read as compound, suffixal formation, and borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "a public performance of music or a detailed account of facts". related forms include recite, recitation, and recitative. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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