REPETITION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does repetition mean? 

• REPETITION (noun)
  The noun REPETITION has 3 senses:

1. an event that repeats

2. the act of doing or performing again

3. the repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device

  Familiarity information: REPETITION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REPETITION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An event that repeats

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

repeat; repetition

Context example:

the events today were a repeat of yesterday's

Hypernyms ("repetition" is a kind of...):

periodic event; recurrent event (an event that recurs at intervals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "repetition"):

sequence (several repetitions of a melodic phrase in different keys)

cycle (a periodically repeated sequence of events)

rematch; replay (something (especially a game) that is played again)

recurrence; return (happening again (especially at regular intervals))

Derivation:

repeat (happen or occur again)

repetitious (characterized by repetition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of doing or performing again

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

repeating; repetition

Hypernyms ("repetition" is a kind of...):

continuance; continuation (the act of continuing an activity without interruption)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "repetition"):

iteration (doing or saying again; a repeated performance)

redundancy (repetition of an act needlessly)

reduplication; reiteration (the act of repeating over and again (or an instance thereof))

copying (an act of copying)

action replay; instant replay; replay (the immediate rebroadcast of some action (especially sports action) that has been recorded on videotape)

renewal (the act of renewing)

replication (the repetition of an experiment in order to test the validity of its conclusion)

echolalia ((psychiatry) mechanical and meaningless repetition of the words of another person (as in schizophrenia))

Derivation:

repeat (to say, state, or perform again)

repeat (make or do or perform again)

repetitious (characterized by repetition)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The repeated use of the same word or word pattern as a rhetorical device

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("repetition" is a kind of...):

rhetorical device (a use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "repetition"):

epiphora; epistrophe (repetition of the ends of two or more successive sentences, verses, etc.)

symploce (repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning and another at the end of successive clauses, i.e., simultaneous use of anaphora and epistrophe)

anaphora (using a pronoun or similar word instead of repeating a word used earlier)

anaphora; epanaphora (repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses)

polyptoton (repetition of a word in a different case or inflection in the same sentence)

ploce ((rhetoric) repetition to gain special emphasis or extend meaning)

gemination (the doubling of a word or phrase (as for rhetorical effect))

epanodos (repetition of a group of words in reverse order)

epanalepsis (repetition after intervening words)

anadiplosis; reduplication (repetition of the final words of a sentence or line at the beginning of the next)

Derivation:

repetitious (characterized by repetition)

 Context examples 

Their degree of repetition is two to several hundred at each locus.

(Minisatellite Repeat, NCI Thesaurus)

No piece could be proposed that did not supply somebody with a difficulty, and on one side or the other it was a continual repetition of, Oh no, that will never do!

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

She is to meet me at the Stores, so that I may not alarm her mother by too early a repetition of my call.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The day was a repetition of the days that had gone before.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The first repetition is defined as '1'.

(Performed Activity Repetition Number, NCI Thesaurus)

There was no special emphasis of his repetition of Martin's word.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

As soon, however, as the consciousness of all this was forced by continual repetition on Marianne, she could stay no longer.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

You will hardly blame me for refusing to comply with this entreaty, or for resisting every repetition to it.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I could see Maud’s solicitude again growing, though she timidly—and even proudly, I think—forbore a repetition of her request.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

It was the hour of study; they were engaged in conning over their to-morrow's task, and the hum I had heard was the combined result of their whispered repetitions.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)