GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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  1.       
Atavism (), n. [L. atavus an ancestor, fr. avus a grandfather.]
    1. (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.

    [1913 Webster]

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

    [1913 Webster]


    2. recurrence of or reversion to a past style, outlook, approach, or manner.

    [PJC]

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