recession

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹɪˈsɛʃn̩/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French récession (“a going back”) and directly Latin recessiō (“a going back”),^[2][3][4] from the past participle stem of recēdō (“to go back, withdraw”) (see recede),^[2][3] from re- (“back”) and cēdō (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *ked- (“to go, yield”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The act of receding or going back: the 1640s in Etymonline, before 1652 in the OED;^[2][5] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1614.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Receding parts of surfaces or outlines are called recessions from 1753,^[5] and in philology the shift of the stress towards the start of a word from 1886.^[5] The economic sense, a temporary decline in business activity, was coined in the autumn of 1929, the Economist writing of an immediate recession of some magnitude,^[2][5] and Ayto notes more than a hint of euphemism in it.^[2] The withdrawal of clergy and choir after a service is another sense.^[6][7] A separate recession, the ceding back of territory, is from 1828–90.^[3][5]

Timeline

• 1614 – recession (Merriam-Webster).^[3]
• 1640s – a going back.^[2]
• 1753 – receding outlines.^[5]
• 1886 – recession of accent.^[5]
• 1929 – an economic recession.^[2][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A temporary decline in economic activity, often defined by falling output over several quarters.
2. The act of receding or withdrawing.
3. The departure of clergy and choir in procession at the end of a church service.

Word family

• recessionary
• antirecession
• minirecession
• nonrecession
• postrecession
• prerecession
• recessional
• recessionproof

Related words

• recede
• recess
• depression
• cede
• process

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins