Repetition

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/

Definitions

1. The act of doing, saying, or experiencing something again, often multiple times
2. The process of performing an action or presenting information multiple times, which serves to reinforce understanding or habit formation
3. Engaging in the act of reiterating an event, idea, or behavior, frequently to enhance retention or clarity

Etymology: The English noun "repetition" came in through Latin "repetitio," a noun built from "repetere," meaning "to seek again" or "to go back to." That Latin verb was formed from "re-," "back" or "again," and "petere," "to seek, to aim at, to go toward," the same root that gives "petition," a request sent back to an authority. So the word's core idea is not doing something twice but heading back toward something one has already reached. English also has "repetition" as a doublet of "repetitio," meaning the two words descend from the same Latin source by different routes, with the English form taken directly while French supplied its own version, "répétition." Borrowings of this kind usually reached English through learned writing rather than everyday speech.

Synonyms: duplication, recurrence, reiteration, reoccurrence, redundancy

Antonyms: originality, novelty, uniqueness, singularity, variation