Recite
/rɪˈsaɪt/noun
To repeat aloud from memory or read out formally.
Did you know?Recite comes from Latin recitare, meaning to read aloud or rehearse, from re- + citare (“to summon, call forth”), so the word originally carried the energy of calling something back into presence.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*ḱeyt-
“to set in motion, move, incite”
Latin
Latin
citāre
“to summon, call, rouse, hasten”
Latin
Latin
recitāre
“to read aloud, rehearse, repeat”
Old French
Old French
reciter
“to recite, repeat aloud”
14th–15th Century
English
reciten
“to repeat aloud or narrate formally”
Modern English
English
recite
“to repeat aloud from memory or read out formally”