▪ I. repetition1
(rɛpɪˈtɪʃən)
Also 6 -icion, -icyon, Sc. -icioun, -itioun.
[a. OF. repeticion (mod.F. répétition) or ad. L. repetitiōn-em, n. of action f. repetĕre to repeat.]
I. 1. a. The action of repeating or saying over again something which one has already said; reiteration; an instance of this.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 163 b, Of curiosite to saye theyr duty agayne, or to saye it with repeticyons. 1557 Bible (Genev.) Matt. vi. 7 When ye pray, vse no vaine repetitions as the heathen. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xix. (Arb.) 208 Your figure that worketh by iteration or repetition of one word or clause..is counted a very braue figure. 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. iii. x. 107 The sacred Scriptures abound in elegant Repetitions. 1751 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess of Bute 19 June, When you do not answer any part of my letters, I supppose them lost, which exposes you to some repetitions. 1798 Malthus Popul. (1878) p. vi, I am fearful that I shall appear..to have been guilty of unnecessary repetitions. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 485 Let me recapitulate—for there is no harm in repetition. |
b. Rhet. The use of repeated words or phrases.
| 1533 T. Wilson Rhet. 107 b, Repetition is when we begynne diverse sentencies one after another with one and the same worde. 1585 Jas. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 65 It is also meit, for the better decoratioun of the verse to vse sumtyme the figure of Repetitioun. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Repetition, (a Figure in Rhetorick) is when a Person thinking his first expression not well understood,..repeats or explains them, another way. |
2. a. The action of repeating or saying over something in order to fix or retain it in the memory;
† also, the rehearsal of a play.
| 1581 Mulcaster Positions xl. (1887) 231 The morening houres will best serue for the memorie..: the after noone for repetitions, and stuffe for memorie to worke on. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. xxi. (1627) 246 Once gotten, they were easily kept by oft repetition. 1756 Foote Engl. fr. Paris ii. Wks. 1799 I. 114 It is now in repetition at the French comedy. 1863 Geo. Eliot Romola xxx, Of the new details he learned he could only retain a few, and those only by continual repetition. |
b. The action of reciting in a formal manner,
esp. recitation of something learned by heart; a piece set to be learned and recited.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xl. §1 If the Psalms..deserve to be oftener repeated than they are, but that the multitude of them permitteth not any oftener repetition. 1612 Brinsley Lud. Lit. vi. (1627) 68 There must be daily repetitions and examinations. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 79 ¶1 A Repetition of the following Verses out of Milton. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) iii. viii, Seeing the boy who is next above you flogged for a repetition which you know you cannot say even half so well as he did. 1864 Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 129 Seeing that his boys learn their repetitions and get up in time for morning school. |
3. Recital, relation, narration, mention.
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 165 Rich. Foule wrinckled Witch, what mak'st thou in my sight? Q.M. But repetition of what thou hast marr'd. 1607 ― Cor. v. iii. 144 A name Whose repetition will be dogg'd with Curses. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 83/1 By repetition of which accident, Charillus often afterwards defended the Dæmon. 1821 Byron Mar. Fal. v. i, Spare us, and spare thyself the repetition Of our most awful, but inexorable Duty. |
4. a. The action or fact of doing something again; renewal or recurrence of an action or event; repeated use, application, or appearance.
| 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxxi. §2 Because by repetition they..confirme the habites of all vertue, it remaineth that we..keep them as ordinances. 1695 Dryden tr. Dufresnoy's Art Painting Observ. ¶200 The Members would be too naked, if they left not two or three Folds,.. and therefore [they] have us'd those Repetitions of many Folds. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Habits are acquired by the frequent repetition of actions. 1781 Cowper Hope 22 Pleasure is labour too, and tires as much,..By repetition palled, by age obtuse. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop i, These glances seemed to increase her confidence at every repetition. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. v. 148 Genius, getting impatient of universal repetition, strikes out for itself new paths on every side. 1883 Century Mag. Oct. 859/2 A notion that architectural beauty is to be attained by an indefinite repetition of ugliness. |
b. Mus. (See
quots. and
cf. repeat n. 2 c, 2 d.)
| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 68 When you see this signe {repetn} of repetition, you must begin again, making the note next before the signe..a semibriefe in the first singing. 1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Repetition..is also a doubling or trebling, etc. of an interval, or a reiteration of some concord or discord. 1881 Grove Dict. Mus. III. s.v., The rapid reiteration of a note is called repetition. |
c. The comparative ability of a musical instrument to repeat the same note in quick succession.
| 1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iv. 285/1 Another common defect is in the ‘repetition’: a key will not rise to the level instantly the finger is raised. 1894 T. Elliston Organs & Tuning 148 The..repetition is such that the pipes respond to the most rapid staccato passages. |
d. The return of a taste.
rare— 1.
| 1705 Jos. Taylor Journ. Edenborough (1903) 49 For my part I only drunk one Glass for curiosity, and I am sure, had the repetition of it 20 times in my stomach. |
5. A copy or replica of a thing.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxxiv. (1856) 299 We saw a couple of icebergs standing alone in the sky, and at their shadowy tops their phantom repetitions inverted. 1881 Catal. Nat. Portr. Gallery 255 A small and highly finished repetition of it was recently sold among the artists's works. |
6. attrib., as
repetition choice,
repetition device,
repetition phenomenon,
repetition rate;
repetition clock, a repeating clock;
repetition compound (see
quot.);
repetition compulsion Psychoanalysis, a term first used by Freud to describe behaviour that is caused by a more powerful instinct than that of pleasure, whereby a response is repeated regardless of the result; also
transf.;
repetition sermon (see
quot. 1688);
repetition work, the occupation of making the same article over and over again.
| 1934 Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Jan. 254 This difference in *repetition choice correlated with a difference in teachers' ratings on the trait of pride. |
| 1764 Ann. Reg. i. 79 The pieces contained in the striking part of the ordinary *repetition clocks. |
| 1957 R. W. Zandvoort Handbk. Eng. Gram. ix. i. 286 *Repetition Compounds.., a type of compound which consists in the repetition of the word constituting its first element: goody-goody, pretty-pretty. |
| 1925 A. Strachey tr. Freud's The Uncanny in Coll. Papers IV. 391 We are able to postulate the principle of a *repetition-compulsion in the unconscious mind, based upon instinctual activity and probably inherent in the very nature of the instincts—a principle powerful enough to overrule the pleasure-principle. 1941 L. Trilling in D. Lodge 20th Cent. Lit. Crit. (1972) 288 [Freud] first makes the assumption that there is indeed in the psychic life a repetition-compulsion which goes beyond the pleasure principle. 1953 A. Koestler in Encounter I. ii. 28/2 British foreign policy..and French internal politics..seem to be dictated by this kind of repetition-compulsion. 1961 J. A. C. Brown Freud i. 4 This phenomenon, described by Freudians as the repetition compulsion, is met with most frequently clinically..in the choice of a mate where the same personality type is selected each time. 1974 S. Arieti Amer. Handbk. Psychiatry (ed. 2) III. 164/2 In the hyponoic and sometimes..anoetic qualities of the hypnoid state, the dominance of repetition compulsion becomes apparent. |
| 1941 L. Macneice Poetry of W. B. Yeats 164 The twentieth century suspected most poetic *repetition-devices. |
| 1954 A. H. Maslow Motivation & Personality xi. 188 (heading) *Repetition phenomena; persistent, unsuccessful coping; detoxification. |
| 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 714/1 *Repetition rate, the number of times repetition is demanded in a telephone conversation, this being related to the line or transmitter noise, [etc.]. 1948, etc. [see pulse repetition rate s.v. pulse n.1 6]. 1969 Times 4 Feb. 13/3 It [sc. pulsar NP 0532] has the fastest repetition rate of all known pulsating stars. |
| 1624 Donne Devot. (ed. 2) 381, I could not heare the Sermon, and these latter Bells are a *repetition Sermon to me. 1688 D. Granville in Misc. (Surtees No. 37) 43 It is a custom in the University of Oxford once in the year in the University Church to have a Repetition-sermon..: that repetition task..is the most difficult employment of the whole year. |
| 1897 Daily News 18 Nov. 6/2 Another Manchester firm..discharged a fitter employed on simple *repetition work. |
II. 7. (Chiefly
Sc.) The action of claiming restitution or repayment; a claim of this kind; also loosely, restoration, recovery, repayment.
| 1533 Bellenden Livy i. xiii. (S.T.S.) I. 74 This rite of chevelry, and repeticioun of gudis, began first be ane anciant pepil namit equicoli. 1590 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 543 But prejudice of his repetitioun of the soume abonewrittin payit be him to the said Sir Robert. 1644 in Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Spalding Club) II. 313 Everie vther burghe sall haue repetitioun of the tua pairt of the proportioun of excise furneshit by them. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. Disc. x. 138 Innocent requiring of my owne, which goes no further than a faire repetition. 1765 Act 5 Geo. III, c. 49 §5 Their action..for repetition of any overcharge in such account of expences. 1838 W. Bell Dict. Law Scot. 204 A creditor who had obtained a preference in a ranking to which he was not entitled, was found liable to repetition. |
Add:
[I.] [4.] e. Sport. A training exercise or activity which is repeated; (
a) in
Athletics, any of the circuits run during
repetition training; (
b) in
Weight-training, etc.: the exercise of raising and lowering a weight. Usu. in
pl., as part of a series or ‘set’.
| a1955 F. Stampfl On Running ii. 48 A miler..engaged on five three-quarter-mile repetitions will have no option but to run more slowly than at racing pace. Ibid., The six-miler should dispense with time trials altogether, sticking, rather, to three repetitions of two miles at racing speed. 1984 Runner (U.S.) Oct. 63/2 Coe ran a set of 20 200-meter repetitions, averaging 27 seconds, resting only 25–45 seconds between each. 1986 Runner Mar. 36/2 She loves repetitions on the track and runs them as fast as anyone. |
| b1956 Strength & Health Nov. 49/2 They [sc. the exercises] need not include excessive repetitions. 1962 J. Cyriax Bench Weight Training ii. 25 The partner may change his position or exercise after the first or second set of repetitions. 1974 G. Hooks Weight Training in Athletics iv. 53 It is a good idea to lower the number of repetitions in each set so that heavier weights can be handled. 1988 Muscular Devel. Nov. 27/2 One must train at the highest level of intensity, performing each repetition properly and safely. |
[6.] repetition running Athletics, a form of
interval running in which the athlete races fast, but rests between circuits instead of keeping on the move.
| 1955 F. Stampfl On Running ii. 48 When *repetition-running reaches racing speed, the individual runs should never extend to more than a half of the actual racing-distance. 1964 J. K. Doherty Mod. Training for Running v. 114 Repetition running over distances between 220 yards to 880 yards. 1985 H. Wilson in H. Payne Athletes in Action 41, I would suggest that repetition running becomes more useful than interval running as the competition season approaches. |
repetition training Athletics, training by repetition running.
| 1966 R. Clarke Unforgiving Minute vii. 64 We..pressed on with *repetition training, running one-quarter repetitions between the furlong posts. 1978 F. S. Pyke et al. in Focus on Running vi. 137 The ability to sustain a sprinting effort depends on the quality of the lactic acid energy system which is taxed by repetition training. |
▪ II. repeˈtition2 rare—1.
(
riː-)
[re- 5 a.] A new petition or request.
| 1759 Franklin Ess. Wks. 1840 III. 240 Repetitions, when they are supported with new reasons,..are justifiable in all cases. |