Etymology

recidivate

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Today it means: To relapse into a previous pattern of behavior, especially to commit new offenses after having been punished or sanctioned for earlier ones. Full definition →

Latin recidīvus
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromrecidīvus“returning, recurring”
  2. English todayrecidivate

Adapted borrowing of Medieval Latin recidīvātus + -ate (verb-forming suffix), past participle of recidīvō, from Latin recidīvus (“returning, recurring”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Compare French récidiver. By surface analysis, recidive + -ate

Words from the same roots

Latinrecidīvus all →

recidivismrecidivistrecidive

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.