recessional

C2+ Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /rɪˈsɛʃənəl/ UK /rɪˈsɛʃənəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a hymn or music played as clergy and choir withdraw at a service's end

The organist struck up a triumphant recessional as the wedding party left.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a hymn or music played as... postludeexit

Opposites

processional

Word family

Related forms recession recede recess

Etymology

From recession + -al; recession from Latin recessio, from recedere ('to go back, withdraw'), from re- ('back') + cedere ('to go, yield').

recessio Latin cedere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives General Vocabulary

External links

# recessional

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈsɛʃənəl/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈsɛʃənəl/

## Meanings
1. a hymn or music played as clergy and choir withdraw at a service's end

## Examples
- The organist struck up a triumphant recessional as the wedding party left.

## Synonyms
- postlude
- exit

## Antonyms
- processional

## Related Forms
- recession
- recede
- recess

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: recessio
- Root: cedere

## Etymology
From recession + -al; recession from Latin recessio, from recedere ('to go back, withdraw'), from re- ('back') + cedere ('to go, yield').

## AI Etymology
Recessional comes from recession + -al; recession from Latin recessio, from recedere ('to go back, withdraw'), from re- ('back') + cedere ('to go, yield'). The historical chain includes Latin recessio and Latin cedere. Older glosses in the chain include "to go back, withdraw", "back", and "to go, yield", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, recessional is best read as compound, suffixal formation, and borrowing, yielding an English noun and adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun and adjective, with the sense "a hymn or music played as clergy and choir withdraw at a service's end". related forms include recession, recede, and recess. The result is an English noun and adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- General Vocabulary

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