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🇪🇸Spanish Source WordCode: ES

atávico

Pronunciation / Transliteration: /aˈta.βi.ko/

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Atavistic/ˌæt.əˈvɪs.tɪk/
adjectiveCEFR C2 (Proficient)Top #45200 frequency
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🇪🇸 Example Sentence in Spanish:

"Sintió un miedo atávico al encontrarse solo en la selva."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As adjective
  1. 1

    Relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral.

    "He felt an atavistic fear creep over him as he walked alone through the dark, dense forest."
  2. 2

    Of or relating to genetic atavism; exhibiting the recurrence of primitive biological traits.

    "Scientists studied the atavistic physical anomaly observed in the specimen."
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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the Latin 'atavus' meaning 'ancestor' or 'forefather', combined with the suffix '-istic' formed in the late 19th century. Initially rooted in biological theories of heredity to describe the reappearance of ancestral traits after several generations, the term evolved to metaphorically characterize primitive, instinctive human behaviors and deep-seated evolutionary urges.

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