noun
- repeated or habitual relapse, as into crime.
- Psychiatry. the chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior patterns.
noun
- habitual relapse into crime
“habit of relapsing” (into crime), 1882, from recidivist + -ism, modeled on French récidivisme, from récidiver.
n.
- A tendency to lapse into a previous pattern of behavior, especially a pattern of criminal habits.
- The relapse of a disease or symptom.recidivation