Recite

How to spell recite

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce recite

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does recite mean?

1. verbTo say a piece of text or a list aloud from memory, often to an audience.

Recite in a sentence

• The actor could recite the entire monologue without a single prompt.

• Children at the assembly were asked to recite the poem they had learned.

Where does recite come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin recitare, which meant 'to read aloud' or 'to read out in public'. It was built from the prefix re-, here adding the sense of 'out' or 'aloud', joined to citare, a verb meaning 'to call, summon, or set in motion'. That same citare lies behind a whole family of English words including 'cite', 'recital', 'incite', and 'excite', all of which carry a flavour of calling or rousing. English took recite up in the late 1300s through Old French reciter, first describing the public reading of a text and later the act of repeating something from memory. The spelling trap lives in that quiet middle: the single 'c' followed by 'ite' is pronounced like an 's', and the final silent 'e' is what keeps the vowel long.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• cite (from Latin citare: to call, summon)