Link Centre Dictionary

recess

re·cess

UK/ɹɪˈsɛs/ US/ˈɹiːsɛs/ fairly common informal slang uk us
verb (3) noun (5)

verb

1.

put into a recess

  • “recess lights”
2.

clean with a sponge, by rubbing

3.

close at the end of a session

  • “The court adjourned”
Synonyms

noun

1.
2.
3.

an arm off of a larger body of water (often between rocky headlands)

Synonyms
4.

an enclosure that is set back or indented

Synonyms
5.

a pause from doing something (as work)

  • “we took a 10-minute break”
  • “he took time out to recuperate”
Synonyms

Origin

The noun is borrowed from Latin recessus (“act of going back, departure, receding, retiring; (figuratively) retreat, withdrawal; (metonymically) distant, secluded, or secret spot, corner, nook, retreat; recessed part, indentation”) (also Late Latin recessus (“decree or resolution of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire”)), from recēdō (“to go back, recede, retire, withdraw; to go away, depart; (by extension) to disappear, vanish; to separate; to stand back, be distant; to yield”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + cēdō (“to go, move, proceed”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs); influenced by Middle French recès, French recès (“a break, pause; break between classes in school; school vacation; ebbing of tide; reduction”) (also Anglo-Norman recès and Old French recès (“hiding place; hollow”). Noun sense 5 (“decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.”) is possibly influenced by Italian recesso and refers to a decree or resolution made just before a meeting ends. The adjective and verb are derived from the noun. Cognates * Catalan recés * Italian recesso * Middle French recès (modern French recès) * Portuguese recesso * Spanish receso

Phrases

  • pineal recess
  • piriform recess
  • recess appointment
  • sphenoethmoid recess
  • sphenoethmoidal recess

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.