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 |
|---|---|
| aquiline | curving like an eagle's beak |
| idolatry | the worship of a physical object as a god |
| rabies | an acute virus disease of the nervous system of mammals that is caused by a rhabdovirus (species Rabies virus of the genus Lyssavirus) usually transmitted through the bite of a rabid animal and that is characterized typically by increased salivation, abnormal behavior, and eventual paralysis and death when untreated |
| fitful | characterized by fits or paroxysms |
| collate | to compare critically |
| melancholy | depression of spirits : dejection |
| legato | in a manner that is smooth and connected (as between successive tones) |
| oratorio | a lengthy choral work usually of a religious nature consisting chiefly of recitatives, arias, and choruses without action or scenery |
| isotope | any of two or more species of atoms of a chemical element with the same atomic number and nearly identical chemical behavior but with differing atomic mass or mass number and different physical properties |
| centurion | an officer commanding a Roman century |