atavism

== English == === Etymology === Borrowed from French atavisme. Compare ancestorism. === Pronunciation === (General American) IPA(key): /ˈætəˌvɪzəm/, [ˈæɾəˌvɪzəm] Hyphenation: at‧a‧vism === Noun === atavism (countable and uncountable, plural atavisms) The reappearance of an ancestral characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence; a throwback. The recurrence or reversion to a past behaviour, method, characteristic or style after a long period of absence. (sociology) Reversion to past primitive behavior, especially violence. ==== Usage notes ==== Can be used both positively, to refer to past or ancestral characteristics, or pejoratively, referring specifically to past primitive characteristics. A rather formal term; in popular speech the circumlocution skip a generation is often used for traits that occur after a generation of absence. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== === References === == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from French atavisme. === Noun === atavism n (uncountable) atavism ==== Declension ====