Relate, rehearse, recite, recount, narrate, describe, state, report are comparable when they mean to tell orally or in writing the details or circumstances necessary to others’ understanding or knowledge of a real or imagined situation or combination of events.
Relate implies the giving of a usually detailed or orderly account of something one has witnessed or experienced.
Rehearse usually suggests a repetition; it may imply a summary of what is known or a second or third or oft-repeated telling or a going over and over something in one’s mind, or with another person, or in privacy before relating or sometimes performing or presenting it to others or to an audience.
Recite and the more common recount imply greater particularity of detail than the preceding terms; in fact, the implication of enumeration or of mention of each particular is so strong that both verbs usually take a plural object; thus, one relates an experience, but he recites or recounts his experiences.
Narrate suggests the employment of devices characteristic of the literary narrative such as plot, creation of suspense, and movement toward a climax.
Describe usually implies emphasis upon details that give the hearers or readers a clear picture or that give not only a visual representation but one that appeals to the other senses.
State stresses particularity, clearness, and definiteness of detail, and suggests the aim of presenting material (as facts, ideas, or feelings) in their naked truth so that they will be distinctly understood or fixed in others’ minds.
Report implies a recounting and narrating, often after investigation, for the information of others.