Definitions for: Atavism

[n] a reappearance of an earlier characteristic

Webster (1913) Definition: At"a*vism, n. [L. atavus an ancestor, fr. avus a
grandfather.]
(a) The recurrence, or a tendency to a recurrence, of the
original type of a species in the progeny of its
varieties; resemblance to remote rather than to near
ancestors; reversion to the original form.
(b) (Biol.) The recurrence of any peculiarity or disease of
an ancestor in a subsequent generation, after an
intermission for a generation or two.

Now and then there occur cases of what
physiologists call atavism, or reversion to an
ancestral type of character. --J. Fiske

Synonyms: reversion, throwback

See Also: recurrence, return

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