recession
noun
Recession — the act, or the period, of drawing steadily backward
Definition
The act of becoming more distant
In depth
Recession, in its broader sense, names the act of becoming more distant, the gradual withdrawal or retreat of something from a previous position, closely related to receding. The word's now-dominant economic sense, naming a period of declining economic activity, extends this same underlying image of pulling back from a previous, more advanced position.
Origin
The word descends from Latin recessio, a going back, from recedere, to withdraw, the same root shared with 'receding.' Its dominant modern economic sense developed in the twentieth century, applying the old image of withdrawal and retreat to the cyclical contraction of economic activity, a recession being, etymologically, simply the economy receding from its previous level of expansion.
Usage examples
"The architectural term 'recession' describes the deliberate setting back of a building's upper floors from the street."
"The recession of the glacier over the past century has been documented in painstaking photographic detail."
"Economists debated for months whether the country had officially entered a recession."
How to use it
Writers should rely on context to clarify whether 'recession' refers to physical withdrawal, an architectural feature, or the now far more common economic sense, since the word's everyday usage has shifted heavily toward the financial meaning.
Related concepts
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