atavism

American  

[at-uh-viz-uhm] / ˈæt əˌvɪz əm /

noun

1. Biology.

   1. the reappearance in an individual of characteristics of some remote ancestor that have been absent in intervening generations.

   2. an individual embodying such a reversion.

2. reversion to an earlier type; throwback.

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atavism British  

/ ˈætəˌvɪzəm, əˈtævɪk /

noun

1. the recurrence in a plant or animal of certain primitive characteristics that were present in an ancestor but have not occurred in intermediate generations

2. reversion to a former or more primitive type

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Other Word Forms

• atavic
  adjective
• atavist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of atavism

First recorded in 1825–35; from Latin atav(us) “great-great-great grandfather; remote ancestor, forefather” ( at-, akin to atta familiar name for a grandfather, “grampa” + avus “grandfather, ancestor”) + -ism

Explanation

Atavism is a return to a previous way of doing, saying, or seeing things. It can be casual, like wearing retro clothing and listening to vinyl records, or committed, like living in a straw hut without electricity. It makes sense that atavism comes from a Latin word meaning “forefather,” since it refers to a way of doing things like our ancestors did them. It’s often used negatively, though, to refer to behavior the speaker finds primitive or unacceptable. Atavists are often called "throwbacks." In biology, the term atavism or “evolutionary throwback” is used when animals are born with features that had disappeared, such as legs on a whale.

Example Sentences

Atavism Last week a loud noise was heard in the Rocky Mountains.

From Time Magazine Archive

Atavism is not so much the persistence of the earlier, as the absence of the later stages of psychical development.

From The Evolution of Love by Schleussner, Ellie

Atavism is invariably the result of degeneration, as I will endeavor to demonstrate later on in this paper.

From Religion and Lust or, The Psychical Correlation of Religious Emotion and Sexual Desire by Weir, James

In all these movements we see a striking illustration of what the biologists call the law of Atavism.

From Arrows of Freethought by Foote, G. W. (George William)

Atavism, the reversion to a former state, is the first feeble indication of the reaction opposed by nature to the perturbing causes which seek to alter her delicate mechanism.

From Criminal Man According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso by Lombroso, Gina

Related Words

• backsliding
• relapse