Main Entry:

¹re·ces·sive

Pronunciation:

\ri-ˈse-siv\

Function:

adjective

Date:

circa 1673

1 a: tending to recede b: withdrawn 22 a: producing little or no phenotypic effect when occurring in heterozygous condition with a contrasting allele <recessive genes> b: expressed only when the determining gene is in the homozygous condition <recessive traits> <a recessive disease>

— re·ces·sive·ly adverb

— re·ces·sive·ness noun