What does atavism mean?

Definitions for atavism
ˈæt əˌvɪz əmatavism

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word atavism.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. atavism, reversion, throwbacknoun

    a reappearance of an earlier characteristic

GCIDE

  1. Atavismnoun

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

Wiktionary

  1. atavismnoun

    The reappearance of an ancestral characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence.

  2. atavismnoun

    The recurrence or reversion to a past behaviour, method, characteristic or style after a long period of absence.

  3. atavismnoun

    Reversion to past primitive behavior, especially violence.

  4. Etymology: From atavisme

Wikipedia

  1. Atavism

    In biology, an atavism is a modification of a biological structure whereby an ancestral genetic trait reappears after having been lost through evolutionary change in previous generations. Atavisms can occur in several ways; one of which is when genes for previously existing phenotypic features are preserved in DNA, and these become expressed through a mutation that either knocks out the dominant genes for the new traits or makes the old traits dominate the new one. A number of traits can vary as a result of shortening of the fetal development of a trait (neoteny) or by prolongation of the same. In such a case, a shift in the time a trait is allowed to develop before it is fixed can bring forth an ancestral phenotype. Atavisms are often seen as evidence of evolution.In social sciences, atavism is the tendency of reversion. For example, people in the modern era reverting to the ways of thinking and acting of a former time. The word atavism is derived from the Latin atavus—a great-great-great-grandfather or, more generally, an ancestor.

ChatGPT

  1. atavism

    Atavism refers to the reappearance of specific traits or characteristics in an organism that had disappeared or diminished in previous generations. This term is commonly used in biology and anthropology and is often associated with the concept of evolution. An atavism could be physical, such as a specific organ or feature, or it could be a certain behavior or instinct.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Atavismnoun

    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

  2. Atavismnoun

    the recurrence of any peculiarity or disease of an ancestor in a subsequent generation, after an intermission for a generation or two

  3. Etymology: [L. atavus an ancestor, fr. avus a grandfather.]

Wikidata

  1. Atavism

    Atavism is the tendency to revert to ancestral type. In biology, an atavism is an evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared generations before. Atavisms can occur in several ways. One way is when genes for previously existing phenotypical features are preserved in DNA, and these become expressed through a mutation that either knock out the overriding genes for the new traits or make the old traits override the new one. A number of traits can vary as a result of shortening of the fetal development of a trait or by prolongation of the same. In such a case, a shift in the time a trait is allowed to develop before it is fixed can bring forth an ancestral phenotype. In the social sciences, atavism is a cultural tendency—for example, people in the modern era reverting to the ways of thinking and acting of a former time. The word atavism is derived from the Latin atavus. An atavus is a great-great-great-grandfather or, more generally, an ancestor.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Atavism

    at′av-izm, n. frequent appearance of ancestral, but not parental, characteristics in an animal or plant: reversion to an original type.—adj. At′avistic. [L. atavusavus, a grandfather.]

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of atavism in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of atavism in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of atavism in a Sentence

  1. Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil:

    What a time experiences as evil, is usually an untimely echo of what was formerly experienced as good--the atavism of a more ancient ideal.

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"atavism." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/atavism>.

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1 Comment
  • Rosa Johnson
    Rosa Johnson
    we never get to old to learn the wisdom weneed to know. i wonder about my ancestors if i could learn true then i can found out where i really can from.
    LikeReply7 years ago

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