recessus

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /reˈkes.sus/, [rɛˈkɛs̠ːʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /reˈt͡ʃes.sus/, [reˈt͡ʃɛsːus]

Etymology 1

Perfect passive participle of recēdō (“to go back, give ground, retire, withdraw”).

Participle

recessus (feminine recessa, neuter recessum, adverb recessim); first/second-declension participle

1. perfect passive participle of recēdō
2. drawn back, receding; standing farther back

Inflection

First/second-declension adjective.

Number	Singular				Plural
Case / Gender	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter		Masculine	Feminine	Neuter
Nominative	recessus	recessa	recessum		recessī	recessae	recessa
Genitive	recessī	recessae	recessī		recessōrum	recessārum	recessōrum
Dative	recessō		recessō		recessīs
Accusative	recessum	recessam	recessum		recessōs	recessās	recessa
Ablative	recessō	recessā	recessō		recessīs
Vocative	recesse	recessa	recessum		recessī	recessae	recessa

Etymology 2

From recēdō (“to go back, give ground, retire, withdraw”) +‎ -tus (action noun suffix).

Noun

recessus m (genitive recessūs); fourth declension

1. a going back, receding, retiring, retreat, departure

   Synonyms: sēcessiō, cessiō, dēcessiō, recessiō, discessus, discessiō, ēgressus, excessiō, dīgressiō, dīgressus, excessus, dēcessus, sēcessus

   Antonyms: prōgressus, prōgressiō, prōcessus, prōcessiō, accessus, accessiō

   1. (metonymically) a distant, retired, secluded or secret spot; a nook, corner, retreat, recess

      Synonyms: sēcessus, sēcrētum

2. (figurative) retreat, withdrawal

Inflection

Fourth-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	recessus	recessūs
Genitive	recessūs	recessuum
Dative	recessuī	recessibus
Accusative	recessum	recessūs
Ablative	recessū	recessibus
Vocative	recessus	recessūs

Descendants

Descendants of recessus in other languages

• → English: recess
• French: recès
• → Italian: recesso
• → Portuguese: recesso
• Spanish: receso

References

• “recessus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “recessus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• recessus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• recessus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • ebb and flow (of tide): accessus et recessus aestuum