recessus Latin · revision 32818

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=ine-pro *ḱiesdʰ-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [rɛˈkɛs.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [reˈt͡ʃɛs.sus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''recessus''' ''m'' (genitive recessūs); fourth declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The noun is [[af|la|recēdō|-tus|t1=to go back, withdraw]].^(OLD 2012)^(TLL)^(Etymonline) De Vaan follows Lubotsky in tracing [[m|la|cēdō]] to [[itc-pro|*kesd-e/o-|t=to go away, avoid]] and [[ine-pro|*ḱiesdʰ-|t=to drive away; go away]], comparing [[sa|सेधति|tr=sedhati|t=drives away]]; he rejects an old explanation from ⟨*ke⟩ and the root meaning to sit.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero.^(Köbler 2010) In the OLD's earliest quotation Cicero writes that nature gave animals approach to what is wholesome and withdrawal from what is harmful.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is going back, retreat, withdrawal, often opposed to ⟨accessus⟩: Cicero has the moon's approach and withdrawal.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Figuratively it is withdrawal from an activity, as Cicero's cautious advance and retreat in a case.^(OLD 2012) It is also distance or seclusion, an inward depth, and in Vitruvius a recessed arrangement.^(OLD 2012) Above all it is a receding part, a recess: Virgil has a cave set far back, Velleius the inlets of the sea, and Ovid a grotto at the farthest end of a valley.^(OLD 2012) It is a secluded place, a haunt or refuge: Livy has birds of summer seeking shelter in autumn.^(OLD 2012) Church Latin glosses it retirement, withdrawal, and a secret or mystery.^(Stelten 1995) Niermeyer records medieval senses decease and a resolution passed as a meeting breaks up.^(Niermeyer 1976) In New Latin anatomy it is a recess.^(Wiktionary) English [[m|en|recess]] comes from it, from the 1530s, first meaning a going back.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of withdrawal from what is harmful.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil of a deep cave.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy of a refuge for birds.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1530s – English [[m|en|recess|alt=recess]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A going back, [[m|en|retreat]], withdrawal.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)^(Stelten 1995)

+ # Distance, seclusion; depth; a recessed arrangement.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A [[m|en|recess]], nook; an inlet of the sea; a remote part.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A secluded place, haunt, refuge.^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' A secret, mystery.^(Stelten 1995)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' Decease; a resolution passed at the close of a meeting.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[recedo|alt=recēdō]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The OLD also has a participial adjective ''recessus'', set back, extending backwards, from [[recedo|alt=recēdō]].^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}