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 |
|---|---|
| improvise | to compose, recite, play, or sing extemporaneously |
| sunder | to break apart or in two : separate by or as if by violence or by intervening time or space |
| ethnology | a branch of cultural anthropology dealing chiefly with the comparative and analytical study of cultures |
| mannerism | exaggerated or affected (see affected |
| bemused | marked by confusion or bewilderment : dazed |
| complement | something that fills up, completes, or makes better or perfect |
| retribution | recompense |
| palpitate | to beat rapidly and strongly : throb |
| peroration | the concluding part of a discourse and especially an oration |
| capricious | governed or characterized by caprice : impulsive |