recess

noun

general term for a period in which a group of people are temporarily dismissed from their duties

L326461 on Wikidata ↗

verb

take a break
put into a lower position

L332705 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈsɛs/ / /ˈɹiːsɛs/ / /ˈɹiˌsɛs/

adj

Etymology: 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 verbs); influenced by Middle French recès, French recès (“a break, pause; break between classes in school; school vacation; ebbing of tide; reduction”) (also Anglo-Norman recès and Old French recès (“hiding place; hollow”). Noun sense 5 (“decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.”) is possibly influenced by Italian recesso and refers to a decree or resolution made just before a meeting ends. The adjective and verb are derived from the noun. Cognates * Catalan recés * Italian recesso * Middle French recès (modern French recès) * Portuguese recesso * Spanish receso

Of a place or time: distant, remote.
“[…] I ſhould think it beſt in the ſubſequent diſcourſes to begin to examine vvhether the Earth be eſteemed immoveable, as it hath been till novv believed by moſt men, or elſe moveable, as ſome ancient Philoſophers held, and others of not very receſſe times vvere of opinion; and if it be moveable, to enquire of vvhat kind its motion may be?”

name

A village in County Galway, Ireland.

noun

A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.
“Put a generous recess behind the handle for finger space.”
“[T]he Sun, the great eye of the vvorld, prying into the receſſes of rocks, and the hollovvneſſe of valleys, receives ſpecies, or viſible forms from theſe objects, but he beholds them onely by that light vvhich proceeds from himſelf: […]”
A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.
“[T]he Harmony, Proportion and Beauty of Buildings are equally admirable, vvhether they be executed in plain Free-ſtone, or the moſt beautiful Marble; vvhether the Carvings or Mouldings be gilt or not; the Receſſes or Panels in the VValls be curiouſly painted, or only plaiſter'd.”
“My uncle now clambered on top of the half score of mattresses which form a French bed, and which stood in a deep recess; […]”
A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.
A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.
“The recesses of the forest answered well the purposes of concealment, and Lucy was useful both as an unsuspected messenger, and also for the intelligence she was able to obtain.”
“[I]n the recesses of the palace her mysterious figure was at once invisible and omnipresent.”
A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.
“[U]s hitherto this Corner and ſecret receſſe hath defended, novv the Vttermoſt point of our Land is laid open: and things the leſſe they haue beene vvithin knovvledge, the greater the glorie is to atchieue them.”
“[T]hy tidings bring, / Departure from this happy place, our ſweet / Receſs, and onely conſolation left / Familiar to our eyes, all places elſe / Inhoſpitable appeer and deſolate, […]”
A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.
“the difficulties and recesses of science”
“[…] Momus […] ſeeing in the frame of mans heart, ſuch Angles and receſſes, founde fault there vvas not a vvindovve to looke into them: […]”
A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.
“Spring recess offers a good chance to travel.”
A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.
“After the Easter recess, Sir George Lynn, who was lately elected member for Millcote, will have to go up to town and take his seat; […]”
“The recess of the English Parliament lasted six weeks.”
A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.
“Students who do not listen in class will not play outside during recess.”
An act of retiring or withdrawing; a moving back.
“the recess of the tides”
“And his Receſſe from the Church, ye proffe not othervviſe, than by the Fame and comon Opinion of thoſe Parts; […]”
A decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire or the Hanseatic League.
“Conformably to this a receſs [the Recess of Augsburg] vvas framed, approved of, and publiſhed vvith the uſual formalities. […] Such are the capital articles in this famous Receſs, vvhich is the baſis of religious peace in Germany, […]”
“Besides the fundamental laws and the capitulations, the constitution of the Empire was contained in the Recesses or collections of Decrees of the Diet, which was the general legislative body of the whole Federal union; […]”
An act of retiring or withdrawing from public life, society, etc.; also, an act of living in retirement or seclusion, or a period of such retirement or seclusion.
“First we went to the Castle of St. Elmo, built on a very high rock, whence we had an intire prospect of yᵉ whole Citty, which lyes in shape of a theatre upon the sea brinke, with all the circumjacent islands, as far as Capreæ, famous for the debauched recesses of Tiberius.”
“The ſoft Receſſes of Your Hours improve / The Three fair Pledges of Your Happy Love: […]”
Leisure, relaxation.
“It [Rome] is divided into 14 Regions or Wards; has 7 Mountaines, and as may Campi or Vally's; in these are faire Parks or Gardens call'd Villas, being onely places of recesse and pleasure, at some distance from the streetes, yet within the walls.”
“A small part of this subject many years since had dropped from my pen; but looking, at some opportunities, upon the argument, I thought some things more considerable might be deduced; and applying myself further, at times of recess, I felt it grow and multiply under my imagination: […]”
The state of being withdrawn.
“Good Verſe, receſs and Solitude requires: / And Eaſe from Cares, and undiſturb'd Deſires.”
A departure from a norm or position.
“This, part of METAPHISICKE: I doe not finde laboured and performed, vvhereat I maruaile not, Becauſe I hold it not poſſible to bee inuented by that courſe of inuention vvhich hath beene vſed, in regard that men (vvhich is the Roote of all error) haue made too untimely a departure, and to[o] remote a receſſe from particulars.”
“The external maladies are. 1. Tumours, vvhich are receſſes of the parts of mans body, from the natural ſtate, […]”
A time interval during which something ceases; an interruption, a respite.
“But in the end (as Perſons capable of reaſon) on both ſides they made rather a kind of Receſſe, then a Breach of Treaty, and concluded vpon a Truce for ſome moneths follovving.”
“But ſo the Fates, for Puniſhment ordain'd, / The ſmall Receſs the vveary Land obtain'd; / So little Breath to riſing Freedom gave, / 'Tvvas hard to knovv the Subject from the Slave.”
An overall-concave, reentrant section of a sinuous fold and thrust belt, thrust sheet, or a single thrust fault, caused by one or more of: deformation (folding and faulting) of strata and geologic structures during orogenesis, differences in the angle of critical taper during orogenesis, or differing erosional level of the present geomorphological surface.
“Orogenic arcs are made up by more advanced segments (salients) separated by less advanced zones (recesses) (Miser, 1932). Within salients, the critical taper is lower, the distance among thrust ramps is larger, and there may be more ramps departing from the basal décollement layer with respect to the recess areas.”
An extension or outpouching of a cavity (e.g. articular recess, peritoneal recess,...)

verb

To position (something) a distance behind another thing; to set back.
“His house stood recessed from the road, and the stables, which are to a farm what a fireplace is to a house, were behind, their lower portions being lost amid bushes of laurel.”
“It will also enable slower-moving freight trains to be recessed in the new down goods loop to await, if necessary, a suitable margin before proceeding to Stafford or Stoke and so reduce confliction with other main-line trains.”
To make a recess (noun senses 1 and 1.1) in (something).
“to recess a wall”
Often preceded by in or into: to inset (something) into a recess or niche.
“That gargoyle recesses into the rest of architecture.”
“Recess the screw so it does not stick out.”
To conceal, to hide.
“Get near fat Mr. Dutton, and behind the screen of his prodigious elbow, you will be comfortably recessed from curious impertinents.”
To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.).
“When Congress is recessed, he makes himself acquainted with those free United States, of which he is the gifted son.”
To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone).
“To the National Rifle Association's delight, the Senate has hobbled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by failing to confirm a director since 2006, but [Barack] Obama hasn't made a recess appointment. […] "The President's view of his own power is a constrained one," says White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. "Many of his nominees have languished, but he's only recessed the ones that were critical to keep agencies functioning."”
Of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break.
“Class will recess for 20 minutes.”
“The meeting was recessed at midday.”
Of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time.
“This court shall recess for its lunch break now.”
“The court recessed early for the weekend.”