Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- the act of receding or withdrawing.
- a receding part of a wall, building, etc.
- a withdrawing procession, as at the end of a religious service.
- Economics. a period of an economic contraction, sometimes limited in scope or duration.Compare depression(def 7).
noun
- a return of ownership to a former possessor.
noun
- a temporary depression in economic activity or prosperity
- the withdrawal of the clergy and choir in procession from the chancel at the conclusion of a church service
- the act of receding
- a part of a building, wall, etc, that recedes
noun
- the act of restoring possession to a former owner
1640s, “act of receding, a going back,” from French récession “a going backward, a withdrawing,” and directly from Latin recessionem (nominative recessio) “a going back,” noun of action from past participle stem of recedere (see recede).
Sense of “temporary decline in economic activity,” 1929, noun of action from recess (q.v.):
The material prosperity of the United States is too firmly based, in our opinion, for a revival in industrial activity — even if we have to face an immediate recession of some magnitude — to be long delayed. [“Economist,” Nov. 2, 1929]
Ayto notes, “There was more than a hint of euphemism in the coining of this term.”
n.
- The withdrawal or retreating of tissue from its normal position.
A general business slump, less severe than a depression.