repeatingn.
/rᵻˈpiːtɪŋ/, U.S. /rəˈpidɪŋ/, /riˈpidɪŋ/ The action of repeat v. (in various senses); repetition; an instance of this.
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the mind > language > speech > repetition > [noun]
replication?c1400
repetition?a1425
repeatingc1443
renovelling1483
regressiona1500
iteration1530
repeat1556
ingemination1576
iteratinga1593
iterancea1616
redoublinga1665
restatement1790
troll1790
repeatal1822
catching up1847
rewording1849
re-enunciation1855
iterancy1889
the world > action or operation > repeating > [noun]
reiteration?a1425
iteration1477
itering1530
repetition?1550
iteratinga1593
repeat1667
repeating1671
ringing of changes1734
dittoism1884
ofteninga1889
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > proceedings at election > [noun] > registering or casting votes > types of voting
faggot voting1835
faggotry1841
repeating1888
protest voting1935
ticket-splitting1957
tactical voting1974
c1443 R. Pecock Reule of Crysten Religioun (1927) 396 (MED) By ofte repeting and myche multipliyng of schort fiery preiers in fewe wordis contened.
c1454 R. Pecock Folewer to Donet 191 (MED) But þanne..þer muste be iij repetingis of alle meenal vertues, þat is to seie, in ech table oonys.
1530 W. Tyndale Prol. Deut. in Wks. (1573) 21 The calling to minde, & a repeatyng in the harte of the glorious..dedes of God.
1571 T. Hill Contempl. Mankinde xxvii. f. 129v The stammering, and often repeating of the fore sillable and worde, before the full vttering and speaking of the worde, doth denote such a creature, to be prepared and prone vnto the Melancholie qualitie.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. ii. 19 This acte, is as an ancient tale new told, And, in the last repeating, troublesome. View more context for this quotation
1671 W. Montagu in Buccleuch MSS (Hist. MSS Comm.) (1899) I. 500 This..being the repeating of our dearest Madame's loss by a solicitation relating to it.
1699 Bp. G. Burnet Expos. 39 Articles (1700) xxviii. 311 He was to substitute Bread and Wine, to be the lasting Memorials of it, in the repeating of which, his Disciples were to renew their Covenant with God.
1764 S. Foote Lyar ii. 24 In common occurrences there is no repeating after him.
1776 D. Garrick Let. 3 Apr. (1963) III. 1087 Such Mere Newspaper giving out is below the Notice, or repeating of a Man of Sense.
1844 A. W. Kinglake Eothen xv. 204 There was an uplifting of arms, and a repeating of words.
1881 J. P. Mahaffy Old Greek Educ. xi. 137 The repeating and expounding of the founder's views.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. lxiii. 458 The code..does not forbid falsehood, or malversation, or ballot stuffing, or ‘repeating’.
1903 Michigan Law Rev. 1 318 The action was to restrain the reading of the Bible, the repeating of the Lord's prayer, and the singing of religious songs.
1915 P. G. Wodehouse Psmith, Journalist iv. 25 The New York gangs..have brought to a fine art the gentle practice of ‘repeating’; which..is the art of voting a number of different times at different polling-stations on election days.
1949 Times 18 Aug. 5/3 New Zealand pays him a fee for each service rendered to a patient, including the repeating of a prescription for medicine.
1996 M8 Dec. 49/2 In spite of..much repeating of that old Fawlty Towers classic: ‘Don't mention the war!’, there was an incredibly friendly vibe on the boat.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
repeatingadj.
/rᵻˈpiːtɪŋ/, U.S. /rəˈpidɪŋ/, /riˈpidɪŋ/ 1. gen. Characterized by or exhibiting repetition; that repeats or is repeated.
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1650 E. Williams Virginia's Discov. Silke-worms 8 It must bee our principall care that they [sc. the trees] be intirely beared, the omission of which, by not taking all the leaves off, turnes back the liberallity of the repeating Spring.
1690 T. Brown Reasons Mr. J. Hains Conversion 23 I trembled like a repeating School-boy on a Friday.
1782 Ld. Monboddo Antient Metaphysics II. v. iii. 358 A Repeated Effect requires a Repeating Cause.
1875 J. W. Jackson Man ii. 78 The circuit of the blood constitutes a repeating cycle of change, like the movement of a planet in its orbit.
1894 Rep. Proc. 27th Convent. Amer. Railway Master Mechanics' Assoc. 180 The rivet shearing area in a repeating section is made up of two half sections of the limiting rivets.
1974 Sci. Amer. Mar. 66/3 Glass is an inorganic polymer made up of rings and chains of repeating silicate units.
1992 Time 6 Jan. 27/1 One of its two U.S. cable channels, Headline News, offers an endlessly repeating half-hour loop of updated news, sports, economics and entertainment bulletins.
2008 J. Marchant Decoding Heavens iv. 113 Their purpose was to correlate repeating astronomical events such as the risings and settings of particular constellations with phenomena on Earth.
2. That repeats an action.
a. Of a watch, clock, or part of such a device: that strikes the last hour or quarter again when required. Cf. repeat v. 8a.
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the world > time > instruments for measuring time > clock > [adjective] > striking or constructed to strike
striking1625
repeating1675
1675 J. Smith Horol. Dialogues ii. iv. 50 There is another sort of repeating Clocks, which differs much from this before spoken of, the quarters and repeating, being both performed at the same time, and on the same bells.
1688 in J. W. Benson Time & Time-tellers (1875) 57 His sole making and managing of all pulling repeating pocket-clocks and watches.
1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera i. viii. 12 The Gentleman who was here Yesterday about the Repeating-Watch.
1765 Ann. Reg. 1764 79 A repeating clock which strikes the hours and quarters.
1789 Loiterer 18 July No. 25. p. 14 The chiming Clock, or the repeating Watch.
1803 J. Porter Thaddeus of Warsaw (1826) I. ix. 188 He was pressing the repeating spring, which struck five.
1843 Penny Cycl. XXVII. 107/2 Fig. 1 represents the repeating-train between the frames.
1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockmakers' Handbk. (new ed.) 226 Repeating Rack, a rack in a repeating watch which is shifted one tooth for each blow that is struck.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 22/2 All-or-nothing piece, a piece of the mechanism of a repeating watch which either allows the striking of the hours and quarters or entirely prevents it.
1999 A. Mallinson Close Run Thing vii. 134 He was pleased when his father's repeating half-hunter came to his aid, striking the half-hour.
b. Of a firearm: capable of firing several shots in succession without reloading.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > [adjective] > repeating or automatic
repeating1736
six-shooting1858
automatic1877
auto1906
semi-automatic1911
1736 S.-Carolina Gaz. 12 June 3/2 He has to be sold a Silver hilted small Sword, two Silver Watches, a six times repeating Gun, a chamber'd Gun, and a double barrel Gun, &c.
1814 Niles' National Reg. 31 Dec. 280/2 The committee appointed to enquire into the nature and advantages of Chambers' repeating guns.
1824 W. N. Blane Excurs. through U.S. 47 I saw there several of the celebrated ‘repeating swivels’.
1858 W. Greener Gunnery in 1858 413 Revolving or repeating pistols have now become as necessary in war as the rifle.
1880 Daily News 17 Nov. A repeating rifle of novel construction.
1933 Time 6 Nov. 23/1 After the war he went back to Indo-China..only to be attacked by a Chinese Communist with a repeating pistol who pumped him full of lead.
1952 Life 17 Nov. 11 (caption) Every boy's dream is fulfilled in this handsome Frontier Repeating Cap Rifle!
1996 T. Parker Violence of our Lives iii. 118 It was a repeating type of rifle and I emptied six shots into her.
c. Nautical. Designating a ship that reproduces a signal made by an admiral. Cf. repeat v. 8b. Also figurative. Now historical.
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society > communication > indication > signalling > visual signalling > flag signalling > [adjective] > of ships: that repeat admiral's signal
repeating1779
1779 Authentic CopyTrial Augustus Keppel 214 If the repeating frigate was near to the Victory, and steering the same course, was it not also possible not to see her signals?
1800 Edinb. Advertiser 21 Oct. 262/2 Repeating frigates were stationed the whole length from Brest to Milford Haven.
1824 W. Scott Redgauntlet II. xiii. 326 And you a repeating frigate between Summertrees and the Laird!
1844 Ld. Brougham Albert Lunel II. iv. 100 The captain's glass told him that it was only a repeating frigate stationed to windward.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 568 Frigates and small vessels out of the line were deemed repeating ships.
c1916 D. Beatty in J. H. Wiener Great Brit. (1972) I. 683 The attached cruisers..carried out their duties as repeating ships with remarkable rapidity and accuracy under difficult conditions.
1932 Times 1 Oct. 6/5 This light cruiser served as a repeating ship in the Battle of Jutland.
2006 D. Lambdin King's Trade (2008) x. 100 She had to pass the message back to the repeating sloop of war, which passed it to the trailing 74-gunner.
3. That repeats a sound; (of a sound) that is repeated.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > thing heard > [adjective] > sounding > that repeats a sound
repeating1685
re-echoeda1764
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > resonance or sonority > [adjective] > reverberating or echoing
rebounding1555
rolling1575
repercussive1604
doubling1605
reverberate1608
reparable echo1616
revoicing1631
reverberating1632
rewording1657
re-echoing1668
repeating1685
phonocamptic1694
echoing1702
anacamptic1706
anacamptical1706
reactive1712
rebellowing1712
redoubling1717
repulsive1744
reverberative1807
reverbering1822
reboant1830
echoy1841
reverberant1847
reboantic1853
verberant1864
1685 T. D'Urfey Elegy & Two Panegyricks 13 Let repeating Ecchoes reach the Poles, Inform all Eyes and influence all Souls: Two onely perfect Glories can be seen, The Sun in Heaven above, on Earth below the Queen.
1704 Poet. Misc. V. 382 I..All Day to the repeating Caves complain In mournful Accents.
1839 T. De Quincey Sketches Life & Manners in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Sept. 575/2 A shout from an aeriel height..propagated through repeating bands of men from a distance of many miles.
1857 D. P. Thompson Gaut Gurley ix. 120 A volume of sound that thrilled through the forest and sent its repeating echoes from hill to hill along the distant borders of the lake.
1914 A. K. Green Dark Hollow xxiv. 250 She heard his key turn in the lock, followed by the repeating sound of his footsteps.
2002 Cairns (Austral.) Post (Nexis) 4 Dec. 13 Our two repeating parrots, Howard and Downer, squawk the American patriotic garbage so loud that they invite terror groups to have a go at us.
4. Mathematics.
a. Of a decimal: recurring; spec. having a single digit that is repeated (as 0.333… = ⅓ , in contrast to 0.090909… = 1/ 11); cf. circulating decimal n. at circulating adj. Compounds. Cf. repeater n. 3.
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the world > relative properties > number > ratio or proportion > fraction > [adjective] > decimal > recurring
repeating1721
1721 E. Hatton Intire Syst. Arithm. iii. 145 In Example 4. there being two Decimals consisting of repeating Decimals..put down 4, and carry 4 to the third Series, which makes it 39, and the 6 and 9 Repeaters is 54.
1773 Encycl. Brit. I. 397/2 Repeating decimals are of two kinds: viz. some consist only of the repeating figures [etc.].
1847 J. Robinson Amer. Arithm. 133 Any repeating or circulating decimal is equal to a vulgar fraction whose numerator is the repeating figure or figures, and whose denominator is a number of 9s equal to the number of repeating figures.
1903 J. Battell Ellen (ed. 2) I. 257 Decimals of this continuing kind are called recurring decimals, and are also distinguished as repeating or circulating decimals according as one figure or more than one repeat.
1966 J. S. Meyer & S. Hanlon Fun with New Math ii. 23 That decimal can be either a finite or a repeating decimal.
2003 G. R. Jensen Arithm. Teachers vi. 278 Long division verifies that the repeating decimal expansion of the fraction obtained is the given decimal.
b. Of a curve or function: periodic. rare.
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1842 A. de Morgan Differential & Integral Calculus xxi. 736 Every form of α−1αx is a repeating function. [Note] I use the word repeating, and not periodic, because I consider that the latter term is wanting to express the difference of character between algebraic and trigonometric quantities.
1872 P. Frost Curve Tracing 187 Repeating Curves..whose equations involve trigonometrical functions of the coordinates in the place of the coordinates themselves. The loci of such curves, from the nature of trigonometrical function, are made up of patterns continually repeated in every direction.
1941 Math. Gaz. 25 165 (heading) Repeating curves.
5. Designating an instrument for measuring angles in which accuracy is obtained by observing and measuring an angle repeatedly round a graduated circle, and then taking the average of the results; chiefly in repeating circle. Also: designating other instruments using the same principle (now rare). Now historical.The repeating circle is associated esp. with the name of J. C. de Borda (1733–99), who proposed a modification of the reflecting circle ( J. C. de Borda Description et usage du cercle de réflexion: avec différentes méthodes pour calculer les observations nautiques (1787)).
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the world > relative properties > measurement > measuring instrument > [noun] > for measuring angles
protractor1602
recipiangle1728
goniometer1766
trigonometer1767
repeating circle1799
angulometer1817
sine bar1915
1799 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. Oct. 320 The observers made use, for the measurement of every kind of angles, of the entire circle of Borda, which is justly called the repeating circle.
1811 J. Black tr. A. von Humboldt Polit. Ess. New Spain I. p. vi It is to be wished that a traveller..provided with a sextant, or a small repeating circle of reflection..should travel in three directions over the north of the kingdom of New Spain.
1822 Mem. Astron. Soc. 1 33 The repeating circle, till within these few years, has been very little used in this country.
1829 W. Pearson Pract. Astron. II. 513 A repeating instrument of the simplest construction.
1841 Penny Cycl. XIX. 399/2 A watch telescope can scarcely be applied to a repeating theodolet, and we think that the repeating tripod may be so made as to be free from any objection.
1929 Sci. Monthly Nov. 404/2 The French have since been partial to the use of repeating instruments in their triangulation while the English have clung to the direction instrument.
1988 H. A. Klein Sci. Measurem. ix. 114 These premetric meridian measurers used special ‘repeating circles’ that had been designed by Borda and were calibrated..in terms of the grade.
2002 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 13 Oct. 12/1 Each astronomer would map a chain of triangles straddling a line of longitude, extending from Dunkirk south to Barcelona... The measurements were made with ‘repeating circles’, brass masterpieces of 18th-century technology.
6. Of a pattern: repeated or recurring uniformly over a surface.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > [adjective] > ornamented in other specific ways
membereda1425
chained1552
armed1553
shielded1805
sun-rayed1856
repeating1863
ajouré1903
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > ornamental art and craft > pattern or design > [adjective] > types of pattern or design generally
stained1397
trailed1490
printed1535
rebesk?a1549
arabesque1731
arabesqued1817
tropical1852
hand-printed1856
repeating1863
1863 Chambers's Encycl. V. 138/1 It consists of two or more bands or ribbons, crossing and recrossing one another in a regularly repeating pattern.
1891 O. Wilde Picture of Dorian Gray xi. 207 He possessed a gorgeous cope of crimson silk and gold-thread damask, figured with a repeating pattern of golden pomegranates.
1928 Bull. Metrop. Museum Art 23 114/2 The present exhibition emphasizes the alternative method of design, that of repeating motifs.
1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iii. 74 Initials could be designed as a separate motif or incorporated into a repeating design.
2002 Oxoniensia 66 6 Bodley..introduced further purlins and more rafters to create panels which were then painted with repeating armorial devices of Oxford University.
Compounds
repeating back n. Photography (now historical) a type of camera back enabling two or more separate exposures to be made on a single plate.
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > photography > camera > parts and accessories of camera > [noun] > plate-holders or boxes
dark box1839
plate holder1850
slide1856
repeating back1867
cassette1875
roller slide1877
kit1885
sheath1890
1867 Brit. Jrnl. Photogr. 29 Mar. 154/1 A quarter camera, with repeating back..for good half-plate bellows camera.
1892 Photogr. Ann. II. 292 This..possesses the advantage of a repeating back for two cartes..upon one plate.
1969 H. Gernsheim & A. Gernsheim Hist. Photogr. (ed. 2) xliii. 523 Three separation negatives were taken in succession on one plate by means of a repeating back containing red, green and blue-violet filters.
2003 J. Plunkett Queen Victoria iv. 151 This was subsequently reduced to a standard format of eight images produced using a camera with four lenses and a repeating back mechanism.
repeating coil n. Telecommunications a type of transformer suited to use as a repeater (repeater n. 4d), having identical primary and secondary windings.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > [noun] > repeater or relay
relay1838
repeater1850
translator1855
repeating coil1886
1886 U.S. Patent 348,512 2/1 Figs. 3 and 4 show the application of telegraphic apparatus in connection with a telephonic system, and also the application of repeating-coils.
1922 L. D. Bliss Theoret. & Pract. Electr. Engin. (ed. 2) II. xxiii. iv. 568 T1 is enabled to communicate with T2 over a metallic circuit through the repeating coils used for the purpose of insulating batteries in two cities from each other.
2000 R. C. Alexander Inventor Stereo ii. 32 A doubly shielded repeating coil at the cable terminations ensured that the voltage was greatly reduced across the capacity unbalances.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.c1443adj.1650