iteration
iteration — noun
1. The act of performing an action or process repeatedly, with the aim of making it
The act of performing an action or process repeatedly, with the aim of making it better each time; or one single cycle within such a repeated series.
The design team went through several iterations before finalising the product.
collocation: several iterations / through iterations
Each iteration of the training program brought better results for the students.
pattern: each iteration of + [noun]
After the fifth iteration of the draft, Noa finally felt the essay was complete.
The chef kept making small iterations to the recipe until the flavour was perfect.
Through multiple iterations of testing, the engineers found the weak point in the bridge.
- repetition
neutral — just doing again, without the improvement goal that iteration implies
- round
less formal — one stage in a process, often used with 'of' (e.g. 'round of talks')
- revision
focuses on changing/correcting content rather than cycling through a full process
- one-off
a single event that is not repeated
文法句型
[number] + iteration(s) + of + [noun]
through + [number] + iterations
iteration + after + iteration
用法筆記
Commonly used with 'through', 'multiple', 'several', 'first', and 'next'. Often appears in design, writing, and product-development contexts.
常見錯誤
2. A single application of a mathematical or computational rule to a number or data
A single application of a mathematical or computational rule to a number or data set; or the entire sequence of such repeated applications, where the output of one step becomes the input for the next.
The algorithm reaches a stable result after about ten iterations of the calculation.
collocation: [number] + iterations of + [noun]
Each iteration of the loop processes one row of data from the spreadsheet.
pattern: each iteration of + [software construct]
Aisha wrote a program that performs 1,000 iterations per second to refine the prediction.
In numerical analysis, the solution improves with every iteration of Newton's method.
- loop pass
programming-specific — one cycle of a loop in code
- recurrence
mathematical — focuses on the recurrence relation, not the process
- cycle
broader — a single complete execution of a repeated process
文法句型
[number] + iterations
iteration + of + [algorithm/loop/formula]
per + iteration
用法筆記
In mathematics and computing, this sense is followed by a number ('10 iterations') or a reference to the rule or loop being applied ('iteration of the algorithm'). The adjective 'iterative' (e.g., 'iterative method') describes a process that achieves results through repeated iterations.
常見錯誤
3. Each distinct release of a product that improves upon what came before, especial
Each distinct release of a product that improves upon what came before, especially a new build of a software program.
The latest iteration of the app runs much faster than the original release.
collocation: latest iteration of + [product]
Christopher downloaded the first iteration of the software, which was missing several features.
Each new iteration of the smartphone includes a better camera than the last model.
The team is already planning the next iteration of the website based on user feedback.
Omar prefers the second iteration of the console because of its quieter fan.
- original
the very first version, before any iterations
文法句型
[adjective] + iteration + of + [product/software]
用法筆記
In software contexts, 'iteration' is often interchangeable with 'version' but suggests a development-cycle perspective — each iteration is the result of a design-build-test cycle. The term is also used in agile development for time-boxed development cycles.