atavism

From WikiWord

English

Etymology

No etymology has been added yet.

Pronunciation

IPA /ˈætəˌvɪzəm/

Noun

atavism noun

The reappearance of an ancestral characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence.
The recurrence or reversion to a past behaviour, method, characteristic or style after a long period of absence.
Reversion to past primitive behavior, especially violence.

Verb

No verb senses have been added yet.

Word map

Related terms

Synonyms

throwback reversion atavist paedomorphy palingenesis pedomorphism ancestrality paedomorphism pedomorphy pleisiomorph pedomorphosis juvenilization metaplasis relictualism apomorph plesiomorph

Associated

feg slough traits evolutionary species modern just band

Usage & collocations

No usage or collocation data has been added yet.

Community definitions

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Usage in the wild

Real example sentences for atavism appear here as readers add them.

References