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View synonyms for atavism

atavism

[ at-uh-viz-uhm ]

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.


atavism

/ 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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Derived Forms

  • atavic, adjective
  • ˈatavist, noun
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Other Words From

  • ata·vist noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of atavism1

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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of atavism1

C19: from French atavisme, from Latin atavus strictly: great-grandfather's grandfather, probably from atta daddy + avus grandfather
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Example Sentences

He’s all too ready, he’s been waiting to ascend the throne so long that at times in his behavior and manner he seems older than his mother, to have floated back into some haven of atavism that is far more agreeable than the twenty-first century.

No democratic state can tolerate this kind of self-segregation and religious atavism funded at public expense.

"Atavism can hardly explain a roaming animal with teeth and claws and sanguinary instincts," interrupted Maloney with impatience.

Atavism, perhaps, the content to be just man again, following mans instinct to survive among the fittest.

Perforce, because he was born in our horde he stayed with us; but in actuality he was an atavism and his place was elsewhere.

The instinct of love is, I suppose, so fiercely primitive in us that under its tyranny we are subjected to some moral atavism.

Besides, I've got a lake up there in which we can indulge in a little atavism to the fish stage of evolution.

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atavicatavistic