iterative

Language: en

🇺🇸 /ˈɪtɜrˌeɪtɪv/

📖 Definitions

  1. adjective
    Involving or characterized by repetition; performing a process repeatedly, typically to approach a desired result or goal.; Relating to or denoting a mathematical or computational process in which a sequence of operations is applied repeatedly, each time using the result of the previous operation as input.; In linguistics, expressing repetition or habitual action; frequentative.; In design and project management, referring to a methodology that develops a product through repeated cycles of prototyping, testing, and refinement.

🔗 Details

Word forms

Collocations

iterative processiterative approachiterative developmentiterative designiterative methoditerative refinement

Derivatives

iterateiterationiterativelyiteratoriterable

Synonyms

repetitiverecursivecyclicalrepeatedcyclic

Antonyms

linearone-timesingle-pass

Commonly confused

recursive
EN: 'Iterative' involves repeating a process in a loop with incremental changes; 'recursive' involves a function or process calling itself within its own definition.
repetitive
EN: 'Repetitive' implies monotonous repetition without necessarily implying improvement; 'iterative' implies repetition with progressive refinement toward a goal.

Spelling tips

EN: Remember that 'iterative' derives from Latin 'iterare' (to repeat); do not confuse the adjective 'iterative' with the verb 'iterate' or the noun 'iteration'.

💬 Examples

  1. The team used an iterative approach to software development, releasing updates in short cycles.

  2. The iterative method converged to the correct value after only five steps.

  3. The verb form is iterative, indicating that the action occurs repeatedly over time.

  4. The iterative design process allowed the engineers to incorporate user feedback at every stage.