Meaning of "reiterate"?- Can you "reiterate" something someone else said?

Question

If you restate something someone else said, would that be "reiterating" it? Or does it only count as "reiterating" if you've already said it yourself? Thanks!

Answer 1

Meaning Of Reiterate

Answer 2

Since reiterate means to say repeatedly, it would seem to follow that the speaker would be repeating his or her own words. And yet, if the speaker said something like: 'I reiterate what X has said', I cannot find fault with that. It would be like 're-saying' something. However, English speakers do tend to use reiterate for their own words, and repeat for someone else's. Interesting question.

Answer 3

Reiterate is repeating what has already been said by the speaker.

Answer 4

Yes, you can reiterate something someone else said.

Answer 5

To reiterate something is to say or do something again, or many times. Let me reiterate: if you repeat yourself, you're reiterating the thing you originally said.



This verb is from Middle English reiteraten, from Latin reiteratus, from reiterare "to repeat," from the prefix re- "again" plus iterare "to repeat, iterate." The English word iterate has the same meaning as reiterate, although it is not as commonly used.