recess

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A short break from work or activity, such as a pause in a meeting, court session, or school day.

   The committee took a brief recess before voting on the proposal.

2. 2
   noun

   A small space set back into a wall or surface; a hollow or alcove.

   They built a recess into the wall to hold the bookshelves.

3. 3
   noun

   A hidden, secret, or hard-to-reach inner part of a place.

   The treasure was hidden in the deepest recesses of the cave.

4. 4
   verb

   To set something back into a surface so it does not stick out.

   They chose to recess the lights into the ceiling for a cleaner look.

The noun is borrowed from Latin recessus (“act of going back, departure, receding, retiring; (figuratively) retreat, withdrawal; (metonymically) distant, secluded, or secret spot, corner, nook, retreat; recessed part, indentation”) (also Late Latin recessus (“decree or resolution of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire”)), from recēdō (“to go back, recede, retire, withdraw; to go away, depart; (by extension) to disappear, vanish; to separate; to stand back, be distant; to yield”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + cēdō (“to go, move, proceed”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from…

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