re ‧ ci ‧ ta ‧ tive /ˌresətəˈtiːv, ˌresɪtəˈtiːv/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Italian ; Origin: recitativo , from recitare , from Latin ; ⇨ ↑ recite ]
technical a speech set to music that is sung by one person and continues the story of an ↑ opera (=musical play) between the songs