atavism

  1. Noun.  The reappearance of an ancestral characteristic in an organism after several generations of absence.
  2. Noun.  The recurrence or reversion to a past behaviour, method, characteristic or style after a long period of absence.
  3. Noun.  (sociology) Reversion to past primitive behavior, especially violence.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.