recoil

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /rɪˈkɔɪl/ UK /rɪˈkɔɪl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to draw back suddenly in fear or disgust; the backward kick of a gun

She recoiled in horror at the sight of the wound.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to draw back suddenly in... flinch shrink wince retreat rebound kick

Opposites

advance approach

Word family

Derived forms recoilless

Related forms coil

Simplified etymology

Recoil entered Middle English from Old French reculer, “to move back,” a word based ultimately on Latin culus, “buttocks.” It first referred to retreating; the sense “spring back in horror” appeared in the early 16th century.

Etymology

From Old French reculer ('to go backward, retreat'), from re- ('back') + cul ('rump, backside'), from Latin culus.

reculer Old French culus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# recoil

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

## Meanings
1. to draw back suddenly in fear or disgust; the backward kick of a gun

## Examples
- She recoiled in horror at the sight of the wound.

## Synonyms
- flinch
- shrink
- wince
- retreat
- rebound
- kick

## Antonyms
- advance
- approach

## Derived Forms
- recoilless

## Related Forms
- coil

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: reculer
- Root: culus

## Etymology
From Old French reculer ('to go backward, retreat'), from re- ('back') + cul ('rump, backside'), from Latin culus.

## AI Etymology
Recoil comes from Old French reculer ('to go backward, retreat'), from re- ('back') + cul ('rump, backside'), from Latin culus. The historical chain includes Old French reculer and Latin culus. Older glosses in the chain include "to go backward, retreat", "back", and "rump, backside", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, recoil is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English verb and noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a verb and noun, with the sense "to draw back suddenly in fear or disgust; the backward kick of a gun". English derivatives include recoilless; related forms include coil. The result is an English verb and noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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