# recursive

/ˌɹiˈkɝsɪv/ (US)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/recursive
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. referring back to itself

adjective · CEFR C1 · Academic

describes a process or rule that refers back to itself, often creating a repeating pattern.

For teachers: pertaining to a process, rule, or definition that invokes or refers back to itself, often resulting in self-similarity.

- The artist created a recursive image of a painter painting a picture of himself.
- The novel's recursive structure, where characters read a book about their own lives, creates a complex layer of meta-fiction.

### 2. computing/math

adjective · CEFR C1 · Technical

describes a computer program or math rule that calls or uses itself to solve a problem.

For teachers: relating to a function, algorithm, or subroutine that calls itself until a base condition is met.

- The programmer used a recursive function to calculate the total sum of the list.
- Recursive algorithms are particularly efficient for traversing tree structures, though they require careful management of the call stack to avoid overflow errors.

Usage: Usually non-gradable; a function is either recursive or it is not.

## Examples

- The program uses a recursive function to calculate the factorial of a number.
- The software engineer designed a recursive algorithm to efficiently search through the nested folders of the file system.
- In computer science, a recursive function is one that solves a problem by breaking it down into smaller, identical subproblems until it reaches a base case that can be solved directly.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.