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iterate

/ˈɪtəreɪt//ˈɪtəreɪt/·verb
to repeat a process in cycles, feeding each round's result into the next
Fig. 1 — Three pancakes come out of the same pan, and none of them is the same pancake.
01Definition

To iterate is to run a cycle again — and, in the word's modern heartlands, to run it again on purpose, using what the last round taught. Designers iterate on a draft; programs iterate over a list, performing the same step for every item; researchers iterate a model until its predictions stop improving. From Latin iterum, 'again', it is technically just 'repeat' — but where you replicate to get the same result, you iterate to get a better one, or to work through a collection one element at a time.

02In use
  • iThe team iterates on the prototype weekly, keeping what tested well and cutting what did not.
  • iiThe script iterates over every row of the file, checking each date against the schedule.
  • iiiYou rarely refine an essay in one pass; you iterate, and the third draft thanks the first.
03Collocations
  • iterate on a design
  • iterate over a list
  • an iterative process
  • the third iteration
  • iterate quickly

Family iteration (noun) · iterative (adjective) · iterator (noun)

04Relations

=repeat, reiterate, recur, revise, cycle

≠finalize, abandon

06TOEFL & IELTS

In writing about design, research, or technology, 'an iterative process' is the collocation that earns its keep — it names the draft-test-improve loop in two words and suits IELTS process and problem-solution prompts. Register matters the other way in speech: for plain saying-again, 'repeat' is the natural verb and 'iterate' sounds like an engineer; reserve iterate for cycles that improve or traverse. Front stress: IT-uh-rate; the noun iteration is countable — a third iteration is a third version.

07Asked
What is the difference between iterate and reiterate?
Historically nothing — reiterate is actually the older word (15th century to iterate's 16th), and the re- adds no meaning. Modern usage has quietly split them: you reiterate words, repeating a point for emphasis ('let me reiterate our position'), and you iterate processes, repeating a cycle to improve or traverse something. Swap them and you sound off: 'let me iterate' reads as a tech joke.
What does iterate mean in programming?
To perform an operation once for each item in a collection — the loop visits every element of the list, string, or file in turn. This is the verb's most literal modern home: the code does exactly the same step, again and again, until the collection is exhausted. An iterator is the object that hands over the next element each time round.
Is it 'iterate over' or 'iterate through'?
Both are standard in programming and effectively interchangeable: you iterate over an array or iterate through it. 'Iterate over' is the more common of the two in documentation. Outside code, the design sense prefers a different preposition entirely — you iterate on a design, a prototype, an idea — where on signals building upon the previous version rather than merely traversing it.
What is an iteration in design or product work?
One complete pass of the cycle — a version, with everything learned from the previous version folded in. The word is countable: teams speak of the second or third iteration the way the scene above stacks its pancakes — the burnt first attempt, the patchy second, the golden third, each cooked on what the one before taught. Calling something 'an early iteration' politely says it will be superseded — improvement is built into the noun.
Is iterate a real word, or just tech jargon?
Fully real and centuries old — but its frequency is lopsided. In general prose reiterate does the everyday work, and iterate stayed rare until computing and design adopted it; now it thrives in those registers. The practical rule: in an academic essay about processes, iterate and iterative are precise and welcome; in conversation about saying something again, repeat is the word.
What does 'an iterative process' mean?
A process that advances by cycles rather than by one straight pass — draft, test, adjust, repeat — with each round expected to improve on the last. The phrase is the adjective's main job, and it carries a quiet claim: that the path to the result was circular on purpose. Writing, translation, engineering design, and machine learning training are all standard examples.