different between throwback vs atavistic

English

Etymology

From throw +? back.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?????.bæk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /???o?.bæk/
• Hyphenation: throw?back

Noun

throwback (plural throwbacks)

1. A reversion to an earlier stage of development.
2. (derogatory) A person considered to be primitive, uncivilized and mentally deficient.
3. An organism that has characteristics of a more primitive form.
4. An atavism.
5. A person similar to an ancestor, or something new similar to what already existed.

See also

• throw back

References

• throwback on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Translations

English

Etymology

From atavism +? -istic, from French atavisme, from Latin atavus (“ancestor”), from at + avus (“grandfather”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /æt.??v?s.t?k/
• Rhymes: -?st?k

Adjective

atavistic (comparative more atavistic, superlative most atavistic)

1. (biology) of the recurrence of a trait reappearing after an absence of one or more generations due to a chance recombination of genes.
   • 1889, U.S. Office of Experiment Stations, Experiment Station Record

     Although the heterozygote gives it an atavistic appearance, the gene is not atavistic.

   • 2006, Roger E Stevenson, Judith G Hall, Human malformations and related anomalies

     Reactivation of a dormant atavistic gene could account for the abnormal costocoracoid ligament in humans.

2. of a throwback or exhibiting primitivism.
   • 2000, Steven Heller, Marshall Arisman, The education of an illustrator

     Because I am atavistic enough to believe that drawing is the basic language of the illustrator, even as words comprise the basic language of the writer…

3. relating to earlier, more primitive behavior that returns after an absence.

Synonyms

• atavistical

Derived terms

• atavistically

Related terms

• atavism
• atavist

Translations