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atavistical. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
atavistical, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
atavistical in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
atavistical you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
From atavistic + -al.
Adjective
atavistical (comparative more atavistical, superlative most atavistical)
- atavistic
1914, Francis H. Buzzacott, Mystery of the Sexes: Secrets of Past and Future Human Creationism, page 39:Atavistical reversions: In biology the restoration of structural characters which have long been lost or obscured; near return to an original type occurring through partly modified descendants; resemblance to remote ancestors or progenitors; partial return, through hereditary influences, of remote ancestral forms.
1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 1, in The Whisperer in Darkness:All the legendry, of course, white and Indian alike, died down during the nineteenth century, except for occasional atavistical flareups.
1996, Hilton Hotema, The Great Red Dragon, Health Research, page 44:Atavistical reversion may reach back to the very beginning of humanity, and some qualities of the first Great Mother may appear in the child of today.
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