relapse

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin relapsus, past participle of relabi (“to slide back, fall back”), from re- (“back”) + labi (“to slip, slide, fall”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlæps/, /ˈɹiːˌlæps/
• Rhymes: -æps

Verb

1. (intransitive) To fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.
   • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:

     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. To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Dryden to this entry?)

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)
• German: zurückfallen (de)
• Interlingua: recader
• Italian: ricadere
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: reincidir (pt)
• Quechua: huchachakuy
• Romanian: recidiva
• Russian: впадать (ru) (vpadatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: ath-thuislich, ath-thuit
• Spanish: reincidir (es)

(medicine) To recur; to worsen

• Catalan: recaure (ca)
• Finnish: (to recur): uusiutua (fi); (to worsen): paheta (fi), pahentua (fi)
• German: sich verschlimmern, sich verschlechtern
• Greek: υποτροπιάζω (el) (ypotropiázo)
• Italian: recidivare (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Manx: aahuitt, aaskyrr
• Maori: matahoki (of an illness)
• Portuguese: recair (pt)
• Russian: обостряться (ru) (obostrjatʹsja), рецидивировать (ru) (recidivirovatʹ)
• Spanish: recaer (es)

Noun

relapse (plural relapses)

1. The act or situation of relapsing.

   a drug relapse

   • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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

• Catalan: recaiguda f
• Czech: recidiva, ataka (cs) f, relaps (cs) m
• Esperanto: refalo
• French: rechute (fr)
• German: Rückfall (de) m, Rezidiv (de) n
• Interlingua: recadita
• Italian: ricaduta (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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) recidiva (es)
• Swedish: recidiv (sv) n
• Ukrainian: рециди́в m (recydýv)

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

---

Latin

Participle

(deprecated template usage) relāpse

1. vocative masculine singular of relāpsus