recessive

UK/ɹɪˈsɛsɪv/US/ɹɪˈsɛsɪv/

adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,255 of 15,258mostly written

Recessive is said of a gene whose effect shows only without a stronger one. A recessive trait.

Two copies are needed, one from each parent, which is why such traits skip generations. A recessive gene can be carried for a century without anybody knowing it is there.

Definitions of recessive

1adjectiverecessiveSaid of a gene whose effect shows only without a stronger one.C1
“Blue eyes are recessive, which is why two brown-eyed parents can have them.”

recessive is a quality.

Where it comes from

From Latin recedere, to go back, the same root as recede and recession.

New Latin
recessīvus
Latin
recēdō
English, today
recessive

From Latin recēdō ive, or directly from New Latin recessīvus.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

recessive in the wild

The masking or overriding variant is said to be dominant and the other recessive.
Dominance (genetics)
Since there is only one Y chromosome, Y-linked traits cannot be dominant or recessive.
Dominance (genetics)
Inheritance is believed to be autosomal recessive, caused by mutation in the CHST14 gene.
Adducted thumb syndrome
Two forms of the disorder exist, dominant and recessive, of which the former is more common.
Robinow syndrome
Clusters of the autosomal recessive form have also been documented in Oman and Czechoslovakia.
Robinow syndrome

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the recēdō family

recession recessive

recessive — used about once every 41,009 pages · #14,255 · point at the bar for the others

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