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.
   • 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.

   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

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

Translations

To fall back again

• Catalan: recaure (ca)
• Esperanto: refali
• Finnish: kokea takaisku, langeta (uudestaan) (fi)
• French: rechuter (fr)
• German: zurückfallen (de)
• Hungarian: visszaesik (hu)
• Interlingua: recader
• Italian: ricadere, recidivare (it)
• Macedonian: па́дне pf (pádne), па́ѓа impf (páǵa), се вра́ти (se vráti)
• Portuguese: reincidir (pt), recair (pt)
• Quechua: huchachakuy
• Romanian: recidiva
• Russian: впадать (ru) (vpadatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: ath-thuislich, ath-thuit
• Spanish: reincidir (es), recaer (es)
• Swedish: återfall (sv) n

(medicine) To recur; to worsen

• Bikol Central: baghat (bcl)
• Bulgarian: влошавам се (vlošavam se)
• Catalan: recaure (ca)
• Cebuano: bughat
• Finnish: uusiutua (fi) (to recur); paheta (fi) (to worsen), pahentua (fi)
• German: sich verschlimmern, sich verschlechtern
• Greek: υποτροπιάζω (el) (ypotropiázo)
• Hungarian: rosszabbodik (hu)
• Italian: recidivare (it)
• Macedonian: се вло́ши (se vlóši)
• Manx: aahuitt, aaskyrr
• Maori: matahoki (of an illness)
• Portuguese: recair (pt)
• Russian: обостряться (ru) (obostrjatʹsja), рецидивировать (ru) (recidivirovatʹ)
• Spanish: recaer (es)
• Swedish: skov (sv) n
• Tagalog: binat (tl)

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[acock] 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

the act or situation of relapsing

• Bikol Central: baghat (bcl)
• Bulgarian: рецидив (bg) m (recidiv)
• Catalan: recaiguda f, recidiva (ca) f, reincidència f
• Cebuano: bughat
• Czech: recidiva (cs), ataka (cs) f, relaps (cs) m
• Esperanto: refalo
• French: rechute (fr)
• German: Rückfall (de) m, Rezidiv (de) n
• Hungarian: visszaesés (hu), rosszabbodás (hu), romlás (hu), állapotromlás, relapszus
• Interlingua: recadita
• Italian: ricaduta (it), recidiva (it) f
• Macedonian: рециди́в m (recidív)
• Manx: aahuittym m, aaghoghan m
• Maori: matahoki (of an illness)
• Portuguese: recaída (pt) f, relapso (pt) m
• Russian: рециди́в (ru) m (recidív)
• Scottish Gaelic: ath-thuisleachadh m, ath-thuiteam m
• Spanish: recaída (es) f, recidiva (es) f, reincidencia (es) f
• Swedish: recidiv (sv) n, återfall (sv)
• Tagalog: binat (tl)
• Ukrainian: рециди́в m (recydýv)

Further reading

• relapse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• relapse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• relapse at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

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

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin relapsus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /rəˈlap.sə/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /reˈlap.se/

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
• Syllabification: 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