recess
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹɪˈsɛs/
ipa: /ˈɹiːsɛs/
ipa: /ˈɹiˌsɛs/
ipa: /ɹəˈsɛs/
ipa: /ɹiˈsɛs/
rhymes: -ɛs
Forms: form: recesses
form: recessing
form: recessed
form: recessed
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”).
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.
Cognates
* Catalan recés
* Italian recesso
* Middle French recès (modern French recès)
* Portuguese recesso
* Spanish receso
Senses: examples: text: His house stood recessed from the road, and the stables, which are to a farm what a fireplace is to a house, were behind, their lower portions being lost amid bushes of laurel.
ref: 1874, Thomas Hardy, “Boldwood in Meditation—A Visit”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 199:
text: It will also enable slower-moving freight trains to be recessed in the new down goods loop to await, if necessary, a suitable margin before proceeding to Stafford or Stoke and so reduce confliction with other main-line trains.
ref: 1962 January, “Talking of Trains: Track Re-arrangement at Colwich”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10:
glosses: To position (something) a distance behind another thing; to set back.
examples: text: to recess a wall
topics: architecture
glosses: To make a recess (noun sense 1 and sense 1.1) in (something).
examples: text: That gargoyle recesses into the rest of architecture.
text: Recess the screw so it does not stick out.
topics: architecture
glosses: Often preceded by in or into: to inset (something) into a recess or niche.
examples: text: Get near fat Mr. Dutton, and behind the screen of his prodigious elbow, you will be comfortably recessed from curious impertinents.
ref: 1808 (date written), [Maria] Edgeworth, “Manœuvring. Chapter XII.”, in Tales of Fashionable Life, volume III, London: […] [S. Hamilton] for J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1809, →OCLC, page 292:
glosses: To conceal, to hide.
examples: text: When Congress is recessed, he makes himself acquainted with those free United States, of which he is the gifted son.
ref: 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “In which the Travellers Move Homeward, and Encounter Some Distinguished Characters upon the Way”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, page 400:
topics: government
glosses: To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.).
examples: text: To the National Rifle Association's delight, the Senate has hobbled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by failing to confirm a director since 2006, but [Barack] Obama hasn't made a recess appointment. […] "The President's view of his own power is a constrained one," says White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. "Many of his nominees have languished, but he's only recessed the ones that were critical to keep agencies functioning."
ref: 2013 January 14, Michael Grunwald, “Cliff Dweller”, in Time, volume 181, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27, column 3:
topics: government
glosses: To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone).
examples: text: Class will recess for 20 minutes.
topics: government
glosses: Of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break.
examples: text: This court shall recess for its lunch break now.
topics: government
glosses: Of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time.
Derived terms: word: nonrecessed
word: recessed
word: recesser
word: recessing
word: unrecessed