recession

¹ American  

[ri-sesh-uhn] / rɪˈsɛʃ ən /

noun

1. the act of receding or withdrawing.

2. a receding part of a wall, building, etc.

3. a withdrawing procession, as at the end of a religious service.

4. Economics. a period of an economic contraction, sometimes limited in scope or duration.

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recession ² American  

[ree-sesh-uhn] / riˈsɛʃ ən /

noun

1. a return of ownership to a former possessor.

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recession ¹ British  

/ rɪˈsɛʃən /

noun

1. a temporary depression in economic activity or prosperity

2. the withdrawal of the clergy and choir in procession from the chancel at the conclusion of a church service

3. the act of receding

4. a part of a building, wall, etc, that recedes

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recession ² British  

/ riːˈsɛʃən /

noun

1. the act of restoring possession to a former owner

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recession Cultural  

1. A general business slump, less severe than a depression.

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Etymology

Origin of recession¹

First recorded in 1640–50, recession is from the Latin word recessiōn- (stem of recessiō ). See recess, -ion

Origin of recession²

First recorded in 1885–90; re- + cession

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Explanation

Jobs being cut? Houses not selling? Everyone talking about the poor sales of everything from cars to bouquets of flowers? That's a recession, a time of economic decline. Recession comes from the Latin word recessus, meaning "a going back, retreat." Think of all the things that get made and sold in a country. When fewer people buy things, orders for them slow down. The sales "go back" to a lower amount. This is an economic recession. This noun can also describe other kinds of "going back," like the recession of floodwaters that enable people to begin cleaning up their homes that had been filled with water.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

recession

In some ways it is a miracle there has not been a global recession, or a debt crisis in a major emerging economy.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

Managers are most pessimistic about consumer discretionary stocks, with sentiment back to the depth of the 2008 recession.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

That’s why any major pullback or bear market in stocks “will rock the economy,” she said, pointing to the 2001 recession that followed the bursting of the dot-com bubble.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

The reason it didn’t lead to a recession, says Rosenberg, was $2 trillion in pandemic-era excess household savings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

The Chicago Tribune reported that increasing turbulence in global markets had raised concerns in London that a recession, even a full-blown “panic,” could be in the offing.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

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Related Words

• bankruptcy
• collapse
• decline
• deflation
• downturn
• hard times
• inflation
• shakeout
• slide
• slump
• stagnation
• unemployment

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