recessive

• POS: Adjective, Noun
• HYPHEN: re=ces=sive

CIDE DICTIONARY

recessive, a. 

•  Going back; receding.  [1913 Webster]
•  Not appearing in the phenotype unless both alleles of the organism have the same trait; -- of genetic characteristics, or of the genes coding for such characteristics, in diploid organisms. Opposite of dominant; hemophilia is a recessive trait.  [PJC]

recessive, n. 

 A genetic trait determined by a recessive{2} allele; a trait not appearing in the phenotype unless both chromosomes of the organism have the same allele; also, an allele which is recessive{2}.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

recessive, adj.
1 tending to recede.
2 Phonet. (of an accent) falling near the beginning of a word.
3 Genetics (of an inherited characteristic) appearing in offspring only when not masked by a dominant characteristic inherited from one parent.

Derivative

recessively adv. recessiveness n.

Etymology

RECESS after excessive

THESAURUS

recessive

atavistic, reactionary, recedent, recessional, recessionary, recidivist, recidivous, regressive, retroactive, retrocedent, retrocessive, retrograde, retrogressive, retrorse, retroverse, returnable, reversible, reversional, reversionary, revertible, revulsionary