When something happens, it “occurs”. When it happens again, it “recurs.”
When a media program is broadcast the first time, it’s “run” or “aired.” When that’s repeated, it’s “rebroadcast,” “rerun,” or “reaired.”
And when you surrender, you “capitulate.” Then when you “recapitulate,” you…sum up a topic? Wait, what’s going on there?
“Capitulate” and “recapitulate” are both derived from the Latin word “capitulum,” which is a heading, as of an essay or chapter. “Capital” as in capital letters comes from the same source. And for that matter, there’s another “capitulate” that refers to a plant that has a “capitulum,” which is a sort of a large flower made up of lots of tiny flowers clustered together. Daisies and sunflowers are “capitulate.” But enough flowery language.
When it first entered English in the late 1500s, “capitulate” meant chapter headings. It was also used to mean the approach of separating a document into sections with headings, like you might do with a contract or agreement.
One kind of agreement that’s sometimes needed is the set of terms under which two armies stop fighting. Shakespeare was the first to use “capitulate” to refer to this sort of agreement, in Henry IV: “Percy, Northumberland, / The archbishop’s grace of York, Douglas, Mortimer, / Capitulate against us.” “Capitulate against us” here meant having discussions, and in the context of the play, what they were discussing was the end of a conflict.
It took about a century until the meaning of “capitulate” to shift from any sort of negotiation or agreement to just one: terms of surrender. So that’s “capitulate,” and we have Shakespeare to thank for its unexpected shift in meaning.
“Recapitulate” entered English at about the same time, in the late 1500s, and from the start meant to go over again, or sum up. In the context of the “headings” referred to by “capitulum,”“recapitulate” had to do with summary — which, of course, had its own heading. But the history of “recapitulate” doesn’t include any interference from literary geniuses, so “recapitulate” simply means exactly the same thing it has from the start.
If you insist strongly enough on summarizing everything, everybody within earshot will probably end up capitulating.
