re·ca·pit·u·la·tion / ˌrēkəˌpichəˈlāshən/ • n. an act or instance of summarizing and restating the main points of something: his recapitulation of the argument. ∎  Biol. the repetition of an evolutionary or other process during development or growth. ∎  Mus. a part of a movement (esp. one in sonata form) in which themes from the exposition are restated.

Recapitulation (Lat. recapitulatio; Gk., anakephalaiōsis, ‘summing up, summary’). In the writings of the Christian fathers, the restoration of fallen humanity to communion with God through the obedience of Christ. The concept derives from Ephesians 1. 10, where God is said to sum up all things in Christ, and was first elaborated by Irenaeus.

recapitulation The theory that some stages of evolution are repeated in the development of an individual organism, i.e. that phylogeny is repeated in ontogeny. It was proposed by Ernst Haeckel. See also acceleration.

recapitulation. That section of a comp. in sonata form and its variants in which the themes, or some of them, presented in the exposition are repeated, more or less in their orig. form.