iterate

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin iterātus (“repeated”), the past participle of iterō (“to do again, to repeat”),^[2][3][4][5] from iterum (“again”),^[6][2][3][7] from Proto-Indo-European *i-tero-,^[8] a comparative of the pronominal base Proto-Indo-European *i-.^[5][9] The Latin adverb is related to ita (“thus”),^[2][4] and has a cognate in a Sanskrit word for "the other".^[2][5][4] Etymonline and Barnhart also allow that the verb may partly be a back-formation from iteration.^[8][2] The noun is either a use of the verb or a fresh borrowing of the same participle.^[3][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Done repeatedly, as a participial adjective: 1471, in Ripley's Compound of Alchymy,^[3] though Barnhart dates the adjective to probably before 1425.^[2] The verb, to say again, follows in 1533, in Tyndale's Supper of the Lord.^[3][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The English verb took over both the "do" and the "say" of its Latin source: "to do again" is recorded from about 1548, and "to say again" from 1533.^[3][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to repeat; to utter again; to inculcate by frequent mention".^[11] The OED marks "do again" as now rare,^[3] though other dictionaries still list it.^[6][7] Merriam-Webster Unabridged simply defines the verb by reiterate.^[4] A rare use meaning "to make double" is recorded in 1660.^[3] In the 20th century mathematics gave the word a technical life: the noun for a quantity reached by iteration is recorded from 1941, and the intransitive verb, to apply a formula repeatedly to its own result, from 1953,^[3] which recent dictionaries extend to computing.^[7][12]

Timeline

• 1471 – adjective, done repeatedly (obsolete by 1657).^[3]
• 1533 – verb, to say again or repeatedly.^[3][2][4]
• c. 1548 – to do over again, to repeat an action.^[3]
• 1660 – to make double, to duplicate.^[3]
• 1941 – noun, in mathematics, a quantity arrived at by iteration.^[3][10]
• 1953 – intransitive, in mathematics, to apply a formula repeatedly to its previous result.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To say or do again; to repeat: The chairman iterated his objection before the vote.^{[6][4][13][7]}
2. (mathematics, computing) To apply a procedure repeatedly, using each result as the input for the next application.^[7][12][3]

Noun

1. (mathematics) A quantity arrived at by iteration.^[3][10][7]

Adjective

1. (obsolete, 1471–1657) Done repeatedly; repeated.^[3][2]

Related words

• iteration
• reiterate
• iterative
• item
• idem

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e f Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins