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atavism

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.18 sec.
atavism (ăt`əvizəm), the appearance in an individual of a characteristic not apparent in the preceding generation. At one time it was believed that such a phenomenon was thought to be a reversion of "throwback" to a hypothetical ancestral prototype. The term is seldom used today since science has shown that such abnormal characteristics can be explained by the inheritance of a pair of recessive genes gene, the structural unit of inheritance in living organisms. A gene is, in essence, a segment of DNA that has a particular purpose, i.e., that codes for (contains the chemical information necessary for the creation of) a specific enzyme or other protein.
..... Click the link for more information. . See Mendel Mendel, Gregor Johann (grā`gôr yō`hän mĕn`dəl)
..... Click the link for more information. .
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In our day we have progressed to a point where such sentiments mark weakness and atavism.
A Princess of Mars by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context
Perhaps some deeprooted atavism urges the wanderer back to lands which his ancestors left in the dim beginnings of history.
Moon and Sixpence by Maugham, W. Somerset View in context
What to you the friendship of Lop-Ear, the warm lure of the Swift One, the lust and the atavism of Red-Eye?
Before Adam by London, Jack View in context
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