| atavism Feb 26th 2013, 16:29 | | | | Line 3: | Line 3: | | | | | | | | ===Etymology=== | | ===Etymology=== | | − | From {{etyl|fr}} {{term|atavisme|lang=fr}} | + | From {{etyl|fr|en}} {{term|atavisme|lang=fr}}. | | | + | | | | + | ===Pronunciation=== | | | + | {{rfp|lang=en}} | | | | | | | | ===Noun=== | | ===Noun=== |
Latest revision as of 16:29, 26 February 2013 [edit] English Wikipedia [edit] Etymology From French atavisme. [edit] Pronunciation atavism (plural atavisms) - The reappearance of an ancestral characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence.
- 1904, Jack London, The Sea-Wolf, Chapter X:
- He was a magnificent atavism, a man so purely primitive that he was of the type that came into the world before the development of the moral nature. He was not immoral, but merely unmoral.
- The recurrence or reversion to a past behaviour, method, characteristic or style after a long period of absence.
- 1938, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Ibid:
- Upon the death of Theodoric in 526, Ibidus retired from public life to compose his celebrated work (whose pure Ciceronian style is as remarkable a case of classic atavism as is the verse of Claudius Claudianus, who flourished a century before Ibidus); but he was later recalled to scenes of pomp to act as court rhetorician for Theodatus, nephew of Theodoric.
- (sociology) Reversion to past primitive behavior, especially violence.
- 1986, Doyle, Michael, 'Liberalism and World Politics':
- "...he traces the roots of objectless imperialism to three sources, each an atavism. Modern imperialism, according to Schumpeter, resulted from the combined impact of a "war machine", warlike instincts, and export monopolism".
[edit] Usage notes Can be used both neutrally, 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. [edit] Synonyms [edit] Derived terms [edit] Translations reappearance of an ancestral characteristic  |  |
