Iterate or reiterate?
iterate is a verb meaning “To perform or repeat an action on each item in a set”; reiterate is a verb meaning “To say or do (something) for a second time, such as for emphasis”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) reiterate is about 4.2 times as common as iterate.
What is the difference between iterate and reiterate?
| iterate | reiterate | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | verb, noun, adjective | verb, adjective, noun |
| Meaning | To perform or repeat an action on each item in a set To perform or repeat an action on the results of each such prior action An n-fold self-composition of a function | To say or do (something) for a second time, such as for emphasis To say or do (something) repeatedly Reiterated; repeated |
| Example | The max() function iterates through the data to find the highest value | Let me reiterate my opinion |
| Forms | iterates, iterating, iterated | reiterates, reiterating, reiterated reïterates, reïterating, reïterated |
| Pronunciation | /ˈɪtəɹeɪt/ /ˈaɪtəɹeɪt/ /ˈɪtərət/ | /ɹiːˈɪt.ə.ɹeɪt/ /ɹiˈɪtəɹeɪt/ /ɹiˈɪɾəɹeɪt/ |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words | 1.3 times per million words |
Sources: iterate and reiterate in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of iterate and reiterate
iterate
- 1
To perform or repeat an action on each item in a set
The max() function iterates through the data to find the highest value
- 2
An n-fold self-composition of a function
- 3
To perform or repeat an action on the results of each such prior action
In mathematics, an iterated function is a function which is composed with itself, possibly ad infinitum, in a process called iteration
- 4
The image of a certain value under such a function
f²(x₀) is the second iterate of x₀ under f
- 5
To repeat an activity, making incremental changes each time
reiterate
- 1
To say or do (something) for a second time, such as for emphasis
Let me reiterate my opinion
- 2
Reiterated; repeated
- 3
A tree with vertical branches alongside the main trunk and which continue to grow upwards
- 4
Uncommon spelling of reiterate
- 5
To say or do (something) repeatedly
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, iterate or reiterate?
iterate appears about once in every 3 million words; reiterate 1.3 times per million words.
iterate about once in every 3 million wordsreiterate 1.3 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search iterate vs reiterate?
“iterate vs reiterate” is searched about 720 times a month on Google and 40 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“reiterate vs iterate”, “iterate or reiterate”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.