repetition
Americannoun
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the act of repeating, or doing, saying, or writing something again; repeated action, performance, production, or presentation.
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repeated utterance; reiteration.
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something made by or resulting from repeating.
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a reproduction, copy, or replica.
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Civil Law. an action or demand for the recovery of a payment or delivery made by error or upon failure to fulfill a condition.
noun
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the act or an instance of repeating; reiteration
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a thing, word, action, etc, that is repeated
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a replica or copy
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civil law Scots law the recovery or repayment of money paid or received by mistake, as when the same bill has been paid twice
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of repetition
1375–1425; late Middle English (< Old French repeticion ) < Latin repetītiōn- (stem of repetītiō ), equivalent to repetīt ( us ) (past participle of repetere to repeat ) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Use the noun repetition to describe something that is repeated over and over, like the repetition of singing the alphabet song several times a day to help young children learn the letters. To correctly pronounce repetition, accent the third syllable: "re-peh-TIH-shun." Repetition and the closely related repeat come from the Latin word repetere, meaning "do or say again." It can be a very effective tool in public speaking, such as the repetition of "I have a dream that one day . . ." in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech.
Vocabulary lists containing repetition
Literary Devices & Figures of Speech - Introductory
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Poetry: Literary Devices
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AP English Lit exam terms
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
With repetition, they got faster until plateauing, which he thinks was when the sorting task became automated.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026
A prosecution barrister said that his interview had been edited to remove "repetition and irrelevant material", with the consent of all parties.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
The International Energy Agency was established to coordinate national responses to crises and avoid a repetition of the bruising scramble among countries for oil that sent prices soaring.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 2, 2026
It also found he had demonstrated "genuine remorse, a high level of insight and substantial remediation, which in its view significantly reduced the risk of repetition of the misconduct".
From BBC • May 21, 2026
Therefore, imprinting in an animal’s mind the artificial connection that if it does a certain action, say, roll over, it will get a treat can be achieved only by mind-numbing repetition.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
