GRE Word List
ATAVISM
recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination
The meaning of the word atavism is recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination.
Random words
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| veritable | being in fact the thing named and not false, unreal, or imaginary |
| proselytize | to induce someone to convert to one's faith |
| platitude | the quality or state of being dull or insipid |
| mammal | any of a class (Mammalia) of warm-blooded higher vertebrates (such as placentals, marsupials, or monotremes) that nourish their young with milk secreted by mammary glands, have the skin usually more or less covered with hair, and include humans |
| gravity | dignity or sobriety of bearing |
| merit | a praiseworthy quality : virtue |
| elated | marked by high spirits : exultant |
| incidental | being likely to ensue as a chance or minor consequence |
| adore | to worship or honor as a deity or as divine |
| idyll | a simple descriptive work in poetry or prose that deals with rustic life or pastoral scenes or suggests a mood of peace and contentment |