recursion

noun

re·​cur·​sion ri-ˈkər-zhən 

1

: return sense 1

2

: the determination of a succession of elements (such as numbers or functions) by operation on one or more preceding elements according to a rule or formula involving a finite number of steps

3

: a computer programming technique involving the use of a procedure, subroutine, function, or algorithm that calls itself one or more times until a specified condition is met at which time the rest of each repetition is processed from the last one called to the first compare iteration

Examples of recursion in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There is no need for memory to grow or shrink in undefined ways, for recursion, or anything like that. —Benj Edwards, Ars Technica, 3 May 2024

This last step launches a kind of recursion: because the supertiles behave just like metatiles, the same grouping process applies to them as well. —Craig S. Kaplan, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2024

What then is too much, when a sleight of the rational names plenty as recursion in thickets, absent blaring data and the insects vanish. —Alice Gribbin, The New York Review of Books, 2 Nov. 2023

Then the authors used a method called recursion to build spaces that multiplied these decision points, forcing the algorithm into a morass of bad options and driving up the cost. —Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 21 Nov. 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin recursiōn-, recursiō "return," from Latin recurrere "to run back, return" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at recur

Note: The form -curs- for expected *-co(r)st- follows the past participle and verbal noun cursus; seen note at course entry 1.

First Known Use

1790, in the meaning defined at sense 1