Definition of "recursive" in English

adjective

1. drawing upon itself, referring back.

   • The recursive nature of stories which borrow from each other

2. (mathematics, not comparable) of an expression, each term of which is determined by applying a formula to preceding terms

3. (computing, not comparable) of a program or function that calls itself

4. (computing theory, not comparable, of a function) which can be computed by a theoretical model of a computer, in a finite amount of time

5. (computing theory, not comparable, of a set) whose characteristic function is recursive (4)