atavism

noun

at·a·vism ˈa-tə-ˌvi-zəm

: recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination

: recurrence of or reversion to a past style, manner, outlook, approach, or activity

architectural atavism

: an individual or character that manifests atavism : throwback

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.—

Jack London

atavistic

ˌa-tə-ˈvi-stik

adjective

atavistically

ˌa-tə-ˈvi-sti-k(ə-)lē

adverb

Did you know?

Atavism derives via French from Latin atavus, meaning "ancestor." Avus in Latin means "grandfather," and it's believed that the at is related to atta, a word for "daddy." Atavism is a term rooted in evolutionary study, referring to instances when an organism possesses traits closer to a more remote ancestor, rather than its own parents. That sense dates to the early part of the 19th century. The word's figurative sense is a more recent development. These days one might describe a building that looks like it's from an earlier era as an atavism, or (though some people might cringe at this) apply the word to activities like reading actual paper books in the age of electronics.

Examples of atavism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Is my interest in the moon some dormant atavism from a more primitive era of human life? —

Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Oct. 2022 Early on, these doctors-cum-criminal-profilers explained bad apples through theories such as atavism. —

WIRED, 21 Feb. 2023 If learning and gentility are signs of civilization, perhaps our almost-big brains are straining against their residual atavism, struggling to expand. —

Richard Granger, Discover Magazine, 31 Oct. 2022 Obama crashed against a wall of atavism and paranoia. —

Matthew Continetti, National Review, 29 Jan. 2022 This gives his career an arc of atavism and abnegating tragedy, a willful artist hopelessly at the mercy of his obsessions. —

Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2021 This was the heyday of Cesare Lombroso’s racist theories about recognizable criminal types and Max Nordau’s study Degeneration, which spread fear of atavism and perversion. —

Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books, 28 May 2020 Because the United States has proved successful in absorbing people from so many different backgrounds, the American political elite has, since the mid-20th century at least, tended to look on group identity as a kind of irrational atavism. —

Park MacDougald, Daily Intelligencer, 19 Apr. 2018 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'atavism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.