Recessiveness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A trait's tendency to be overshadowed by another, often manifesting when present in a homozygous state
2. the genetic characteristic that fails to be expressed in the phenotype when a dominant trait is present
3. the quality of a gene that is only observable in the absence of a dominant counterpart

Etymology: "Recessiveness" is simply "recessive" with the suffix "-ness" attached, the common English ending that turns an adjective into a noun for a quality or state. So the word names the condition of being recessive, in genetics the tendency of a trait to be hidden unless two copies of its gene are present. The more interesting history lies in "recessive" itself. It comes from the Latin "recedere," meaning "to go back" or "withdraw," built from "re-" (back) and "cedere" (to go). The sense of something retreating or receding is the original one, and the genetic meaning is a figurative extension of it: the trait steps back, staying out of sight behind a dominant form.