receptrix 
duced by a generatrix ; an electric motor. See 
genera tru:. 
receptual (re-sep'tu-al), a. [< L. receptns (><- 
ceptu-), a receiving'(see receipt, recept), + -a?.] 
Relating or pertaining to that which is received 
or taken in ; consisting or of the character of a 
recept or recepts. [Recent.] 
The difference between a mind capable of however lim- 
ited a degree of conceptual ideation and one having only 
receptual ideation is usually agreed to be the possession of 
language by the first, and its absence in the other. 
Science, XV. 90. 
receptually (re-sep'tu-al-i), adv. In a recep- 
tual manner; by receiving or taking in. [Re- 
cent.] 
There is then the denotative stage, in which the child 
uses names receptually by mere association. 
Science, XV. 90. 
recerce!6 (re-ser-se-la'), a. [OF., also recercelU, 
pp. of recerceler, recerceller, curl up, curve, also 
hoop, encircle, < re-, back, + eerceler, hoop, en- 
circle, < cercel, cercean, hoop, ring, < L. cir- 
cellus, dim. of circus, a ring: see circus.] In 
her. : (a) Curved at the ends more decidedly 
than in other forms, such as mpline: noting 
a cross each end of which is divided into two 
points rolled backward into a spiral. (6) 
Same as moline. 
recercelled (re-ser'seld), a. In her., same as 
recereeU. 
recess (re-ses'), n. [< OF. reces, recez, a de- 
parture, retreat, recess (as of a school), setting 
(of a star), repose, = Sp. receso = Pg. It. reeesso, 
recess, retreat, < L. recessus, a going back, re- 
treat, departure, also a retired place, corner, 
retreat, etc., < recedere, pp. recessus, recede, re- 
treat, etc.: see recede 1 .] 1. The act of reced- 
ing, or going back or away; withdrawal; re- 
tirement; recession. [Obsolete or archaic.] 
Men . . . have made too untimely a departure and too 
remote a recess from particulars. 
Bacon, Advancement of Learning, ii. 164. 
Every day of sin, and every criminal act, is a degree of 
recess from the possibilities of heaven. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836), I. 182. 
Pliny hath an odd and remarkable passage concerning 
the death of men and animals upon the recess or ebb of 
the sea. Sir T. Browne, To a Friend. 
The access of frost in the autumn, and its recess in the 
spring, do not seem to depend merely on the degree of 
cold. Jeferson, Notes on Virginia (1787), p. 132. 
2f. A state of being withdrawn or retired ; se- 
clusion; privacy. 
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. 
Evelyn, Diary, May 6, 1645. 
Good verse recess and solitude requires. Dryden. 
3. A time of withdrawal or retirement; an in- 
terval of release from occupation ; specifically, 
a period of relief from attendance, as of a 
school, a jury, a legislative body, or other as- 
sembly; a temporary dismissal. 
Before the devolution the sessions of Parliament were 
short and the recesses long. Macaulay, Sir William Temple. 
It was recess as I passed by, and forty or fifty boys were 
creating such a hubbub in the school-yard. 
The Century, XXVIII. 12. 
4. A place of retirement or seclusion ; a remote 
or secret spot or situation ; a nook ; hence, a hid- 
den or abstruse part of anything: as, the re- 
cesses of a forest ; the recesses of philosophy. 
Departure from this happy place, our sweet 
Recess. Milton, P. L. , ii. 304. 
I went to Dorking to see Mr. Charles Howard's amphi- 
theatre, garden, or solitary recess, environed by a hill. 
Evelyn, Diary, Aug. 1, 1655. 
Every man who pretends to be a scholar or a gentleman 
should . . . acquaint himself with a superficial scheme of 
all the sciences, . . . yet there is no necessity for every 
man of learning to enter into their difficulties and deep 
recesses. Watts, Improvement of Mind, I. n. 10. 
The pan- 
Frequent the still recesses of the realm 
Of Hela, and hold converse undisturb'd. 
M. Arnold, Balder Dead. 
5. A receding space or inward indentation or 
depression in a line of continuity ; a niche, al- 
cove, or the like : as, a recess in a room for a 
window or a bed ; a recess in a wall or the side 
of a hill. See cut under ambry. 
A bed which stood in a deep recess. Irving. (Webster.) 
Inside the great portal at Koyunjik was a hall, 180 ft. 
in length by 42 in width, with a recess at each end, through 
which access was obtained to two courtyards, one on the 
right and one on the left. J. Fergusson, Hist. Arch. , 1. 178. 
6. A treaty, law, decree, or contract embody- 
ing the results of a negotiation ; especially, a 
decree or law promulgated by the Diet of the 
old German empire, or by that of the Hanseatic 
League. 7. In lot., a sinus of a lobed leaf. 
4999 
8. In anat. and zool., a receding or hollowed- 
out part; a depression or sinus; a recessus. 
Contrariety of access and recess. Same as contra- 
riety of motion (which see, under contrarirty). Lateral 
recess. See recessus lateralis KeiUriculi quarti, under re- 
cessus. Peritoneal recesses. Same as peritoneal fossa 
(which see, umltir peritoneal). =8yn. 3. Prorogation, Disso- 
lution, etc. (see adjournment), intermission, respite, 4. 
Retreat, nook, corner. 
recess (re-ses'), v. [< recess, n.~\ I. trans. 1. 
To make a recess in ; form with a space sunk 
beyond the general sxirface : as, to recess a wall. 
Cutters for boring bars should be, if intended to be of 
standard size, recessed to fit the bar. 
J. Rose, Pract. Machinist, p. 218. 
2. To place in a recess ; form as a recess; make 
a recess of or for ; hence, to conceal in or as if 
in a recess. 
Behind the screen of his prodigious elbow you will be 
comfortably recessed from curious impertinent*. 
Miss Edyewood, Manoeuvring, xiv. 
The inscription is engraved on a recessed tablet, cut in 
the wall of the tunnel a few yards from its lower end. 
Isaac Taylor, The Alphabet, I. 233. 
The head of Zeus on these interesting coins is of the 
leonine type, with deeply recessed eye. 
B. V. Head, Historia Numorum, p. 88. 
Recessed arch. See orcAi. 
II. intrans. To take a recess; adjourn or 
separate for a short time : as, the convention 
recessed till the afternoon. [Colloq.] 
recession 1 (re-sesh'on), n. [< F. recession, go- 
ing back, withdrawing, < L. recessio(n-), a go- 
ing back, receding, < recedere, recede: see re- 
cede 1 and recess.] 1. The act of receding or 
going back; withdrawal; retirement, as from 
a position reached or from a demand made. 
Our wandering thoughts in prayer are but the neglects 
of meditation, and recessions from that duty. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 73. 
2. The state of being put back; a position rela- 
tively withdrawn. 
But the error is, of course, more fatal when much of the 
building is also concealed, as in the well-known case of 
the recession of the dome of St. Peter's. Ruslcin. 
recession 2 (re-sesh'on), n. [< re- + cession.] A 
cession or granting back ; retrocession : as, the 
recession of conquered territory to its former 
sovereign. 
We believe a large sentiment in California would sup- 
port a bill for the recession [of the Yosemite Park] to the 
United States. The Century, XXXIX. 475. 
recessional (re-sesh'pn-al), a. and . [< reces- 
sion 1 + -al.] I. a. Pertaining to or connected 
with recession, or a receding movement, as that 
of the choir or congregation at the close of a 
service: as, a recessional hymn. 
II. n. A hymn sung while the clergy and 
choir are leaving a church at the end of a ser- 
vice of public worship. 
recessive (re-ses'iv), a. [< recess + -ive.] Tend- 
ing to recede; receding; going back: used espe- 
cially of accent regarded as transferred or 
moved backward from the end toward the be- 
ginning of a word. In Greek grammar the accent is 
said to be recessive when it stands as far back from the 
end of the word as the laws of Greek accentuation per- 
mit that is, on the antepenult if the ultimate is short, or 
on the penult if the ultimate is long. 
recessively (re-ses'iv-li), adv. In a recessive 
or retrograde manner; with a backward move- 
ment or course. 
As she [Greece] passes recessively from the grand Attic 
period to the Spartan, the Theban, the Macedonian, and 
the Asiatic. Edinburgh Rev., CLXIV. 494. 
see 
recidivation 
3. A member of a society composed of total 
abstainers from intoxicating drinks, called the 
Independent Order of Rechabites. 
Rechabitism (rek'a-bi-tizm), n. [< Ileclitihit, 
+ -ixm.] 1 . The practice of the ancient Recha- 
bites in respect to abstinence from strong drink. 
The praises of Rechabitism afford just as good an oppor- 
tunity for the exhibition of sportive fancy and a lively 
humor as lyrical panegyrics on the most exquisite vintage 
of France or the Rhine. 
B. J. Hinton, Bug. Radical Leaders, p. 220. 
2. The principles and practice of the Indepen- 
dent Order of Rechabites. 
The advantages which Rechabitism offered above other 
friendly societies. 
Rechabite Mag., July, 1886, p. 175. (Encyc. Diet.) 
rechantt (re-chant'), v. t. and i. [< re- + chant. 
Cf . recant.] To chant in alternation ; sing an- 
tiphonally. 
Hark, hark the cheerfull and re-chaunting cries 
Of old and young singing this ioyfull Dittie. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks, ii., The Handy-Crafts. 
rechase (re-chas'), v. t. [< ME. rechasen,<. OF. 
(and F.) rechasser, drive back, < re-, back, + 
chasser, drive : see chase 1 .] 1 . To chase or drive 
back or away, as to a forest or covert ; turn back 
by driving or chasing: as, to rechase sheep by 
driving them from one pasture to another. Hal- 
tiwell. [Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
Withynne a while the herte y-founde ys, 
I-hallowed, and rechased faste 
Longe time. Chaucer, Death of Blanche, 1. 379. 
Then these assail ; then those re-chase again ; 
Till stay'd with new-made hills of bodies slain. 
Daniel, Civil Wars, iv. 47. 
2. To call back (hounds) from a wrong scent. 
rechaset, n. [< rechase, v.] A call (in hunting). 
Seven score raches at his rechase. 
Squyr of Lowe Degre, 1. 772. (HalliweU.) 
rechatet, . and v. Same as recheat. 
rechauffe (ra-sho-fa'), n. [F., pp. of rechauffer, 
dial, recaufer, recofer, warm up, warm over, < 
re-, again, + echauffer, warm, < L. excalfacere, 
warm: see excalf action, and cf. eschaufe, chafe.] 
A warmed-up dish ; hence, a new concoction of 
old materials ; a literary rehash. 
We suffer old plots willingly in novels, and endure with- 
out murmur rfchau/fs of the most ancient stock of fiction. 
Saturday Rev. 
rechet, ' An old spelling of reach 1 . 
recheatt (re-chef), . [Early mod. E. also re- 
chate, receii; < OF. recet, receit, etc., also recliet, 
redact, a retreat, refuge : see receipt.] In hunt- 
ing, a melody which the huntsman winds on the 
horn to call back the dogs from a wrong course, 
or to call them off at the close of the hunt ; a 
recall on the horn. 
In hunting I had as leeve stand at the receit as at the 
loosing. Lyly, Euphues. (Nares.) 
That I will have a recheat winded in my forehead, or 
hang my bugle in an invisible baldrick, all women shall 
pardon me. Shak., Much Ado, i. 1. 242. 
recheatt (re-chef), v. i. [Early mod. E. also re- 
chnte; < ME. rechaten, < OF. receter, recheter, 
rechaiter, receive, give refuge, refl. take refuge, 
retreat, < recet, rechet, etc., reeheat: see re- 
cheat, n.] In hunting, to play the recheat ; call 
back the hounds by the tones of the recheat on 
the horn. 
Huntes hyjed hem theder, with hornez ful mony 
Ay rechatande aryjt til thay the renk sejen. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 
BUS (re-ses'us), n. ; pi. recessus. [L. : 
s.] In anat. and zool., a recess Rece 
recessus 
recess.] In anat. and zool., a recess Recessus 
chiasniatis. Same as recessus opticus. Recessus in- 
frapinealis, a small cleft extending from the third ven- 
tricle into the conarium. Also called ventriculus conarii. 
Recessus lnfundibuli,the funnel-shaped cavity at the 
bottom of the third ventricle ; the cavity of the infundi- 
bulum.- Recessus labyrlntM. Same as ductus endo- 
lymphaticus (which see, under ductus). Recessus late- 
rails ventriculi quarti, the lateral recess of the fourth 
ventricle, containing the lateral choroid plexus. Re- 
cessus opticus, a V-shaped recess of the floor of the third 
ventricle, in front of the infundibulum, bounded ante- 
riorly by the lamina terminalis, posteriorly by the optic 
chiasm. Also called recessus chiasinatis. Mihalcovics. 
Recessus prsepontills, a name given by Wilder in 1881 
to the median pit formed by the overhanging of the front 
border of the pons Varolii. 
Rechabite (rek'a-blt), n. [= F. Rechabite; < 
Kechab, father of Jonadab, who founded the 
sect, + -ite%.] 1. A member of a Jewish fam- 
ily and sect descended from Rechab, which, 
in obedience to the command of Jouadab, re- 
fused to drink wine, build or live in houses, sow 
seed, or plant or own vineyards. Jer. xxxv. 
6, 7. Hence 2. A total abstainer from strong 
drink. 
A Rechabite poor Will must live, 
And drink of Adam's Ale. 
Prior, Wandering Pilgrim. 
1911. 
Rechating with his horn, which then the hunter chears, 
Whilst still the lusty stag his high-palm'd head up-bears. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, xiii. 127. 
recherche (re-sher'sha), a. [F., pp. of recher- 
cher, seek again : see research.] Much sought 
after; hence, out of the common; rare; dainty. 
We thought it a more savoury meat than any of the re- 
cherche culinary curiosities of the lamented Soyer. 
Capt. M. Thomson, Story of Cawnpore, v. 
rechristen (re-kris'n), v. t. [< re- + christen.] 
To christen or name again ; fix a new name 
upon. 
Abbeys which have since been . . . reehristened with 
still homelier names. 
Trevelyan, Early Hist. Chas. Jas. Fox, p. 47. 
The faculties ... are in part reehristened, and also re- 
arranged. Nature, XXXIX. 244. 
recidivatet (re-sid'i-vat), r. i. [< ML. recldim- 
tus, pp. of recidivare (> F. recidiver), fall back, 
relapse, < L. reeidivus, falling back, etc. (cf. re- 
cidivattts, a restoration) : see recinii-ous.] To 
fall back, relapse, or backslide; return to an 
abandoned course of conduct. 
To recidivate, and to go against her own act. 
Sp. Andrews, Opuscula, Speech, p. 79 (1629). (Latham.) 
recidivationt (ye-sid-i-va'shpn), n. [< OF. re- 
cidivation, F. recidiratioii, < ML. recidivatio(n-), 
