recursive

Etymology

Taken from the stem of Latin recursus. Equivalent to recurs + -ive

adj

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)