tell the story of or describe what happened

recount

verb|/rɪˈkaʊnt/

Tell someone about something; give an account of an event or experience

Examples

In a meeting

Let me recount what happened in the client meeting so everyone's aligned.

Over coffee

She recounted the entire embarrassing incident at dinner last night.

Why this word

tell

Recount means giving a detailed narrative account of events, while tell is general communication

describe

Recount focuses on narrating events in sequence, while describe focuses on characteristics or appearance

report

Recount emphasizes narrative retelling of experiences, while report focuses on factual information delivery

Usage tip

Use for narrative descriptions of past events. More formal than 'tell' and implies detail or sequence.

Etymology

Old French 'reconter' — to tell, relate, from re- (again) + conter (to count, tell)

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