recess
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: anatomy
architecture
education
geography
geology
government
medicine
natural-sciences
sciences
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.
Cognates
* Catalan recés
* Italian recesso
* Middle French recès (modern French recès)
* Portuguese recesso
* Spanish receso
Inflected forms:
form: recesses
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: recesses
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: recessing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: recessed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: recessed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Put a generous recess behind the handle for finger space.
[T]he Sun, the great eye of the vvorld, prying into the receſſes of rocks, and the hollovvneſſe of valleys, receives ſpecies, or viſible forms from theſe objects, but he beholds them onely by that light vvhich proceeds from himſelf: […]
VVithin a Mountain's hollovv VVomb, there lies / A large Receſs, conceal'd from Human Eyes; […]
VVithin a long Receſs there lies a Bay, / An Iſland ſhades it from the rovvling Sea, […]
His dvvelling a receſs in ſome rude rock, / Book, beads, and maple-diſh his meagre ſtock, […]
The glare of the touch enlightened only the rude vvalls of the citadel, ſome points of the cliff belovv, and ſome tall pins that vvaved over them, leaving in doubtful gloom many a receſs of the ruin, and many a tangled thicket, that ſpread among the rocks beyond.
The Liner train wagon is a simple underframe on bogies, with coned location points that engage recesses in the container bases.
gloss: A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: [T]he Harmony, Proportion and Beauty of Buildings are equally admirable, vvhether they be executed in plain Free-ſtone, or the moſt beautiful Marble; vvhether the Carvings or Mouldings be gilt or not; the Receſſes or Panels in the VValls be curiouſly painted, or only plaiſter'd.
My uncle now clambered on top of the half score of mattresses which form a French bed, and which stood in a deep recess; […]
[T]he soldier looked to the oriel windows. The recesses within them were raised a step or two from the wall.
Uncertain where to go next, and bewildered by the crowd of people who were already astir, they sat down in one of the recesses of the bridge, to rest.
I hied me to the window-recess; and while I sat there and looked out on the still trees and dim lawn, to a sweet air was sung in mellow tones, […]
This hall is the living-room of the house, and walls and roof are of stout logs. […] Deep recesses half way up the walls contain various provender in barrels and sacks.
gloss: A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.
pos: noun
tags: countable
plural-normally
slang
uncountable
gloss: A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: The recesses of the forest answered well the purposes of concealment, and Lucy was useful both as an unsuspected messenger, and also for the intelligence she was able to obtain.
[I]n the recesses of the palace her mysterious figure was at once invisible and omnipresent.
They gathered soberly in the farthest recess of the ward and gossiped about him in malicious, offended undertones, rebelling against his presence as a ghastly imposition and resenting him malevolently for the nauseating truth of which he was bright reminder.
gloss: A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
countable
uncountable
examples: [U]s hitherto this Corner and ſecret receſſe hath defended, novv the Vttermoſt point of our Land is laid open: and things the leſſe they haue beene vvithin knovvledge, the greater the glorie is to atchieue them.
[T]hy tidings bring, / Departure from this happy place, our ſweet / Receſs, and onely conſolation left / Familiar to our eyes, all places elſe / Inhoſpitable appeer and deſolate, […]
His cousin June—and coming straight to his recess!
gloss: A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
plural-normally
uncountable
examples: the difficulties and recesses of science
[…] Momus […] ſeeing in the frame of mans heart, ſuch Angles and receſſes, founde fault there vvas not a vvindovve to looke into them: […]
[…] GOD not onely ſerving himſelf vvith truth out of the mouthes of impious perſons, but magnifying the receſſes of his Counſell and VViſdome and Predeſtination, vvho uſes the ſame Doctrine to glorifie himſelf and to confound his enemies, […]
[P]enitential Sorrovv vvill, and muſt proceed much farther. It muſt force, and make its vvay into the very inmoſt Corners, and Receſſes of the Soul; […]
But thou, nor they, ſhall ſearch the Thoughts that roll / Deep in the cloſe Receſſes of my Soul.
CONVERSATION calls out into Light vvhat has been lodged in all the Receſſes and ſecret Chambers of the Soul: […]
Then was a little respite to the fear, / That in my heart's recesses deep had lain, / All of that night, so pitifully pass'd: […]
As to the fundamental difference of opinion respecting the sources of knowledge (apart from the corollaries which either party may have drawn from its own principle, or imputed to its opponent's), the question lies far too deep in the recesses of psychology for us to discuss it here.
gloss: A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Spring recess offers a good chance to travel.
gloss: A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: After the Easter recess, Sir George Lynn, who was lately elected member for Millcote, will have to go up to town and take his seat; […]
The recess of the English Parliament lasted six weeks.
gloss: A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
Canada
Philippines
UK
US
countable
uncountable
examples: Students who do not listen in class will not play outside during recess.
gloss: An act of retiring or withdrawing; a moving back.
pos: noun
tags: archaic
countable
examples: the recess of the tides
And his Receſſe from the Church, ye proffe not othervviſe, than by the Fame and comon Opinion of thoſe Parts; […]
[M]oſt of the other lakes, becauſe they come from Linnes, and huge pooles, or ſuch lowe bottomes, fedde with ſpringes, as ſeeme to haue no acceſſe, but onelye receſſe of waters, wherof there be many in Scotlande.
This their vvorke [spiders' webs] being finiſhed, […] they hold as it vvere in theyr hands a thred dravvne from the middeſt or Center, by vvhich they haue eaſie acceſſe and receſſe to and fro to their beguiling nets; […]
My receſſe hath given them confidence that I may be conquered.
[A] great, gray, Houſe Snail (as they call it) vvhich being cloſ'd up in one of our ſmall Receivers, did not onely, not fall dovvn from the ſide of the Glaſs, upon the dravving out of the Air […] but vvas not ſo much depriv'd of progreſſive motion by the receſs of the Air: […]
There being no Sort of Reproach vvhich a Man reſents vvith ſo keen, and ſo juſt an Indignation, as the Charge of Folly. […] Foraſmuch as it carries in it an inſulting Negative upon that, vvhich conſtitutes the Perſon ſo charged properly a Man: Every Degree of Ignorance being ſo far a Receſs and Degradation from Rationality, and conſequently from Humanity itſelf.
[T]he principal Receſs of this Infection, vvhich vvas from February to April, vvas after the Froſt vvas broken, and the VVeather mild and vvarm.
It may be obſerved, that ſtill as vve recede from the light, nature has ſo contrived it, that the pupil is enlarged by the retiring of the iris, in proportion to our receſs.
gloss: A decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire or the Hanseatic League.
pos: noun
tags: countable
historical
examples: Conformably to this a receſs [the Recess of Augsburg] vvas framed, approved of, and publiſhed vvith the uſual formalities. […] Such are the capital articles in this famous Receſs, vvhich is the baſis of religious peace in Germany, […]
Besides the fundamental laws and the capitulations, the constitution of the Empire was contained in the Recesses or collections of Decrees of the Diet, which was the general legislative body of the whole Federal union; […]
gloss: An act of retiring or withdrawing from public life, society, etc.; also, an act of living in retirement or seclusion, or a period of such retirement or seclusion.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
examples: First we went to the Castle of St. Elmo, built on a very high rock, whence we had an intire prospect of yᵉ whole Citty, which lyes in shape of a theatre upon the sea brinke, with all the circumjacent islands, as far as Capreæ, famous for the debauched recesses of Tiberius.
The ſoft Receſſes of Your Hours improve / The Three fair Pledges of Your Happy Love: […]
[…] When the Evidence is fully given, the Jurors withdraw to a private Place, […] In this Receſs of the Jury they are to conſider their Evidence, […]
[D]uring my Receſs at St Jones’s I receiv’d a very obliging Letter from him, aſſuring me that his Proceſs for a Divorce vvent on vvith Succeſs, tho’ he met vvith ſome Difficulties in it that he did not expect.
gloss: Leisure, relaxation.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
examples: It [Rome] is divided into 14 Regions or Wards; has 7 Mountaines, and as may Campi or Vally's; in these are faire Parks or Gardens call'd Villas, being onely places of recesse and pleasure, at some distance from the streetes, yet within the walls.
A small part of this subject many years since had dropped from my pen; but looking, at some opportunities, upon the argument, I thought some things more considerable might be deduced; and applying myself further, at times of recess, I felt it grow and multiply under my imagination: […]
Fair Thames ſhe haunts, and ev'ry neighb'ring Grove / Sacred to ſoft Receſs, and gentle Love.
His hours of leiſure and receſs employs, / In dravving pictures of forbidden joys, […]
gloss: The state of being withdrawn.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
examples: Good Verſe, receſs and Solitude requires: / And Eaſe from Cares, and undiſturb'd Deſires.
gloss: A departure from a norm or position.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
obsolete
examples: This, part of METAPHISICKE: I doe not finde laboured and performed, vvhereat I maruaile not, Becauſe I hold it not poſſible to bee inuented by that courſe of inuention vvhich hath beene vſed, in regard that men (vvhich is the Roote of all error) haue made too untimely a departure, and to[o] remote a receſſe from particulars.
The external maladies are. 1. Tumours, vvhich are receſſes of the parts of mans body, from the natural ſtate, […]
gloss: A time interval during which something ceases; an interruption, a respite.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
obsolete
examples: But in the end (as Perſons capable of reaſon) on both ſides they made rather a kind of Receſſe, then a Breach of Treaty, and concluded vpon a Truce for ſome moneths follovving.
But ſo the Fates, for Puniſhment ordain'd, / The ſmall Receſs the vveary Land obtain'd; / So little Breath to riſing Freedom gave, / 'Tvvas hard to knovv the Subject from the Slave.
gloss: An overall-concave, reentrant section of a sinuous fold and thrust belt, thrust sheet, or a single thrust fault, caused by one or more of: deformation (folding and faulting) of strata and geologic structures during orogenesis, differences in the angle of critical taper during orogenesis, or differing erosional level of the present geomorphological surface.
pos: noun
tags: countable
examples: Orogenic arcs are made up by more advanced segments (salients) separated by less advanced zones (recesses) (Miser, 1932). Within salients, the critical taper is lower, the distance among thrust ramps is larger, and there may be more ramps departing from the basal décollement layer with respect to the recess areas.
gloss: An extension or outpouching of a cavity (e.g. articular recess, peritoneal recess,...)
pos: noun
tags: countable
gloss: To position (something) a distance behind another thing; to set back.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 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.
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.
gloss: To make a recess (noun senses 1 and 1.1) in (something).
pos: verb
tags: often
transitive
examples: to recess a wall
gloss: Often preceded by in or into: to inset (something) into a recess or niche.
pos: verb
tags: also
often
reflexive
transitive
examples: That gargoyle recesses into the rest of architecture.
Recess the screw so it does not stick out.
gloss: To conceal, to hide.
pos: verb
tags: figuratively
transitive
examples: Get near fat Mr. Dutton, and behind the screen of his prodigious elbow, you will be comfortably recessed from curious impertinents.
gloss: To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.).
pos: verb
tags: US
transitive
examples: When Congress is recessed, he makes himself acquainted with those free United States, of which he is the gifted son.
gloss: To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone).
pos: verb
tags: US
informal
transitive
examples: 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."
gloss: Of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break.
pos: verb
tags: US
intransitive
examples: Class will recess for 20 minutes.
The meeting was recessed at midday.
gloss: Of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time.
pos: verb
tags: US
intransitive
examples: This court shall recess for its lunch break now.
The court recessed early for the weekend.
Related words: recession
recessive
Derived words: nonrecess
pineal recess
piriform recess
recess appointment
recesslike
sphenoethmoidal recess
sphenoethmoid recess
nonrecessed
recessable
recessed
recesser
recessing
unrecessed
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: вдлъбнатина
roman: vdlǎbnatina
lang: Esperanto
word: receso
lang: Finnish
word: syvennys
lang: Finnish
word: väli
lang: Georgian
word: ჩაღრმავება
roman: čaɣrmaveba
lang: German
word: Aushöhlung
lang: German
word: Nische
lang: German
word: Vertiefung
lang: German
word: Winkel
lang: Ancient Greek
word: μυχός
roman: mukhós
lang: Hungarian
word: mélyedés
lang: Hungarian
word: zug
lang: Italian
word: incavo
lang: Japanese
word: あそび
roman: asobi
lang: Japanese
word: ゆとり
roman: yutori
lang: Latin
word: recessus
lang: Macedonian
word: вдлабна́тина
roman: vdlabnátina
lang: Māori
word: koko
lang: Polish
word: zakamarek
lang: Polish
word: wnęka
lang: Portuguese
word: recesso
lang: Russian
word: углубле́ние
roman: uglublénije
lang: Slovak
word: priehlbina
lang: Swedish
word: mån
lang: Swedish
word: spel
lang: Swedish
word: utrymme
lang: Turkish
word: boşluk
lang: Turkish
word: çukur
lang: Turkish
word: girik
lang: Turkish
word: girinti
lang: Turkish
word: niş
lang: Turkish
word: oyuk
lang: Turkish
word: yuva
lang: Turkish
word: kovuk
lang: Bulgarian
word: дебри
roman: debri
lang: Finnish
word: syvyys
lang: Arabic
word: فُسْحة
roman: fusḥa
lang: Bulgarian
word: пауза
roman: pauza
lang: Bulgarian
word: прекъсване
roman: prekǎsvane
lang: Bulgarian
word: ваканция
roman: vakancija
lang: Catalan
word: esbarjo
lang: Dutch
word: reces
lang: Finnish
word: loma
lang: Finnish
word: tauko
lang: French
word: vacances
lang: Georgian
word: შესვენება
roman: šesveneba
lang: Georgian
word: არდადეგები
roman: ardadegebi
lang: German
word: Ferien
lang: German
word: Pause
lang: German
word: Unterbrechung
lang: German
word: Auszeit
lang: Hebrew
word: הַפְסָקָה
roman: hafsaqá
lang: Hungarian
word: szünidő
lang: Indonesian
word: reses
lang: Italian
word: ferie
lang: Italian
word: pausa
lang: Japanese
word: 休業
roman: kyūgyō
lang: Japanese
word: 休暇
roman: kyūka
lang: Korean
word: 휴식
roman: break
lang: Korean
word: 휴가
roman: vacation
lang: Macedonian
word: па́уза
roman: páuza
lang: Macedonian
word: о́дмор
roman: ódmor
lang: Portuguese
word: recesso
lang: Romanian
word: vacanță
lang: Russian
word: переры́в
roman: pererýv
lang: Russian
word: кани́кулы
roman: kaníkuly
lang: Slovak
word: prázdniny
lang: Spanish
word: receso
lang: Swedish
word: lov
lang: Swedish
word: paus
lang: Swedish
word: rast
lang: Swedish
word: skollov
lang: Turkish
word: ara
lang: Turkish
word: mola
lang: Turkish
word: paydos
lang: Turkish
word: tatil
lang: Turkish
word: teneffüs
lang: Turkish
word: sekte
lang: Ottoman Turkish
word: آرالق
roman: aralık
lang: Finnish
word: kaivaa syvennys
lang: Finnish
word: tehdä syvennys