recency

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the quality or state of having happened, appeared, or begun only a short time ago

   Because of the policy's recency, researchers could not yet measure its long-term effects.

2. 2
   noun

   the tendency for the most recently encountered information or events to have greater influence or be remembered better

   Recency may explain why voters focused on the final debate rather than the whole campaign.

From recent + -cy, ultimately based on Latin recens ('fresh, new, recent'). The psychological sense is familiar from the recency effect, in which later items receive disproportionate attention or recall.

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