Atavism
/ˈæt.ə.vɪz.əm/noun
The reappearance of an ancestral trait that has been absent in recent generations.
Did you know?The word comes from Latin atavus, meaning a great-great-grandfather, and was later adopted by 19th-century biology for traits that seemed to reappear from humanity’s evolutionary past.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*h₂ewh₂os
“An ancestor or older forebear; the reconstructed source associated with Latin avus.”
Classical Latin
Latin
avus
“Grandfather or male ancestor.”
Classical Latin
Latin
atavus
“A great-great-grandfather or remote ancestor, formed with an intensifying ancestral prefix.”
19th Century
Latin/English
atavism
“A term formed from Latin atavus for the reappearance of an ancestral characteristic.”
Modern English
English
atavism
“The recurrence of an ancestral biological or behavioral trait after generations of absence.”