Meaning

verb summarize briefly

verb repeat stages of evolutionary development during the embryonic phase of life

verb repeat an earlier theme of a composition

originFrom Late Latin recapitulātus, past participle of recapitulāre (“to go over the main points of a thing again”), from re- (“again”) + capitulum (“head, main part, chapter”), from caput (“head”) + -ulum (diminutive suffix); see capitulate. By surface analysis, re- + capitulate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0