recess
UK /ɹɪˈsɛs/ · US /ˈɹiˌsɛs/ noun, adjective, verb, proper noun
Forms recesses recessing recessed
- noun (countable) A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening. “Put a generous recess behind the handle for finger space.”
- noun (architecture) A small space created by building part of a wall further back from the rest; a niche.
- noun (criminal slang, usually in the plural) The place in a prison where the communal lavatories are located.
- noun (countable) A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.
- noun (archaic) A place of retirement, retreat, or seclusion.
- noun (figuratively, usually in the plural) An obscure, remote, or secret situation. “the difficulties and recesses of science”
- noun (countable) A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause. “Spring recess offers a good chance to travel.”
- noun (government) A period of time when the proceedings of a committee, court of law, parliament, or other official body are temporarily suspended.
- adjective (obsolete, rare) Of a place or time: distant, remote.
- verb To position (something) a distance behind another thing; to set back.
- verb To make a recess (noun senses 1 and 1.1) in (something). “to recess a wall”
- verb (also reflexive) Often preceded by in or into: to inset (something) into a recess or niche. “That gargoyle recesses into the rest of architecture.”
- verb (figuratively) To conceal, to hide.
- verb To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.).
- verb (informal) To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone).
- verb Of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break. “Class will recess for 20 minutes.”
- verb Of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time. “This court shall recess for its lunch break now.”
- proper noun A village in County Galway, Ireland.
Synonyms
alcove indentation bay day off hiatus moratorium break breather cessation demurral gap caesura halt halting interregnum interruption lapse pause respite resting deferral recession niche corner inlet time out adjourn break up
Antonyms
Etymology
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.
* Middle French recès (modern French recès)
Webster’s 1913
- noun A withdrawing or retiring; a moving back; retreat; as, the recess of the tides.
- noun The state of being withdrawn; seclusion; privacy.
- verb To make a recess in; as, to recess a wall.
- noun A decree of the imperial diet of the old German empire. Brande & C.
Etymology [L. recessus, fr. recedere, recessum. See Recede.]
Etymology [G.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “recess”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details