relapse

English

Etymology

From Latin relapsus, past participle of relabi (“to slide back, fall back”), from re- (“back”) + labi (“to slip, slide, fall”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlæps/, /ˈɹiːˌlæps/

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• Rhymes: -æps

Verb

relapse (third-person singular simple present relapses, present participle relapsing, simple past and past participle relapsed)

1. (intransitive) To fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.

   He has improved recently but keeps relapsing into states of utter confusion.

   to relapse into a stupor, into vice, or into barbarism

   to relapse into slumber after being disturbed

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.

2. (intransitive, medicine, of a disease) To recur; to worsen, be aggravated (after a period of improvement).
3. (intransitive, informal, specifically) To return to a vice, especially self-harm or alcoholism, failing to maintain abstinence.

   relapsed after 5 months of being clean

4. To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.
   • 1700, [John] Dryden, “The Hind and the Panther”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; , London: Jacob Tonson, , →OCLC:

     You slip your hold and change your side,
     Relapsing from a necessary guide.

Hyponyms

• (to fall back into a former state or practice): fall off the wagon

Derived terms

• relapsing fever

Translations

Noun

relapse (plural relapses)

1. The act or situation of relapsing.

   a drug relapse

   • 1671, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: J. M for John Starkey , →OCLC:

     Alas! from what high hope to what relapse / Unlooked for are we fallen!

2. (medicine) An occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement
3. (obsolete) One who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider.

Translations

See also

• remission

Further reading

• “relapse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “relapse”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “relapse”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Leapers, Perales, leapers, pleaser, presale, repeals

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin relapsus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)

Adjective

relapse (feminine relapsa, masculine and feminine plural relapses)

1. (religion) relapsed

Noun

relapse m (plural relapses, feminine relapsa)

1. backslider (someone who has relapsed into sin or heresy)

Further reading

• “relapse” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈla.pse/
• Rhymes: -apse
• Hyphenation: re‧là‧pse

Adjective

relapse

1. feminine plural of relapso

Noun

relapse f pl

1. plural of relapsa

Anagrams

• saperle, spelare, spelerà

Latin

Participle

relāpse

1. vocative masculine singular of relāpsus