reiterative

Reiterative is an English adjective meaning marked by repetition or involving repetition of actions, words, or steps. The term is formed from the verb reiterate, which itself comes from Latin reiterare “to repeat” (re- meaning again and iterare to repeat). The adjective is relatively rare in everyday usage and is more common in formal or technical writing.

In usage, reiterative emphasizes the act of reiteration—referring to repeating something to reinforce a point or ensure understanding—rather than simply performing a loop. It is closely related to, but distinct from, iterative, which describes processes that proceed by repeating steps to reach a result, often with refinement or approximation. A reiterative procedure may involve repeating the same statement or instruction, while an iterative process emphasizes progressive improvement through repetition.

Contexts: In rhetoric, writers may employ reiterative phrasing to stress themes. In science or engineering, one may describe an experiment as reiterative when it includes repeated trials that reinforce findings. In linguistics, reiterative constructions or reduplication can express repetition of an action or event, though such usage favors broader terms like repetition or reduplication.

See also: reiteration, reiterate, iterative, repetition, reduplication.