recess

[ri-ses, ree-ses]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR recess ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

temporary withdrawal or cessation from the usual work or activity.

a period of such withdrawal.

a receding part or space, as a bay or alcove in a room.

an indentation in a line or extent of coast, hills, forest, etc.

recesses, a secluded or inner area or part: in the recesses of the palace.

verb (used with object)

to place or set in a recess.

to set or form as or like a recess; make a recess or recesses in: to recess a wall.

to suspend or defer for a recess: to recess the Senate.

verb (used without object)

to take a recess.

Origin of recess

1510–20; < Latin recessus a withdrawal, receding part, equivalent to recēd(ere) to recede¹ + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > ss

Related formsnon·re·cess, noun

Synonyms for recess

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR recess ON THESAURUS.COM

1. respite, rest, break, vacation.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for recesses

closure, layoff, hiatus, vacation, pause, lull, time-out, suspension, holiday, respite, adjourn, terminate, dissolve, heart, cranny, hollow, dent, cubicle, depression, slot

Examples from the Web for recesses

Contemporary Examples of recesses

Fortunately, there was another word for quick that popped from the recesses of his memory.
You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story
Walter Isaacson
October 19, 2014
Pictures of pets, pictures of relatives in coffins, pictures of intimate moments otherwise discarded in the recesses of memory.
These Photographs Would Die Without Him
Dale Eisinger
July 31, 2014
In the recesses of Concordia you will feel really, really small.
It’s a Big, Big World: Sights That Make You Feel Small
Lonely Planet
December 24, 2013

Historical Examples of recesses

At sides masonry with recesses; in the R. centre a great doorway.
Apu Ollantay
Anonymous
The unfortunate Boabdil plunged once more amidst the recesses of the Alhambra.
Leila, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
We can neither plumb the depths nor pierce the shades of its recesses.
Reflections
Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld
We'll have to be stayin' more together mornin's and noons and recesses, so we will.
The Widow O'Callaghan's Boys
Gulielma Zollinger
But a still greater cunning lurked in the recesses of the Indian mind.
White Fang
Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for recesses

recess

noun (rɪˈsɛs, ˈriːsɛs)

a space, such as a niche or alcove, set back or indented

(often plural) a secluded or secret placerecesses of the mind

a cessation of business, such as the closure of Parliament during a vacation

anatomy a small cavity or depression in a bodily organ, part, or structure

US and Canadian a break between classes at a school

verb (rɪˈsɛs)

(tr) to place or set (something) in a recess

(tr) to build a recess or recesses in (a wall, building, etc)

Word Origin for recess

C16: from Latin recessus a retreat, from recēdere to recede

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

Word Origin and History for recesses

recess

1809, from recess (n.). Related: Recessed; recessing.

recess

1530s, "act of receding," from Latin recessus "a going back, retreat," from recessum, past participle of recedere "to recede" (see recede). Meaning "hidden or remote part" first recorded 1610s; that of "period of stopping from usual work" is from 1620s, probably from parliamentary notion of "recessing" into private chambers.

recesses in Medicine

recess

[rē′sĕs′, rĭ-sĕs′]

n.

A small hollow or an indented area.