recent

comparative more recent · superlative most recent

1. Having happened a short while ago.

   1 more example

   Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.

   2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, archived from the original on 22 Feb 2016, page 193

   Synonyms: nudiustertian

2. Up-to-date; not old-fashioned or dated.

   Synonyms: nouveau

3. Having done something a short while ago that distinguishes them as what they are called.

   The cause has several hundred recent donors.

   1 more example

   I met three recent graduates at the conference.

4. sciencesParticularly in geology, palaeontology, and astronomy: having occurred a relatively short time ago, but still potentially thousands or even millions of years ago.

   Finding it now means it was produced in more recent times, in astronomical terms.

   2020 October 4, Evan Gough, “We Now Have Proof a Supernova Exploded Perilously Close to Earth 2.5 Million Years Ago”, in Science Alert

plural recents

1. computingA recently viewed or accessed item.

   Obviously, the first time you launch this app, your Recents list is empty.

   2012, Jason R. Rich, Your iPad 2 at Work, page 308

1. obsoletegeographyThe Holocene.

   He [Charles Lyell] ignored Quaternary, a term he never accepted. The Recent addressed the age “tenanted by man,” which at the time barely extended beyond the chronicles of the Bible.

   2012, Lydia Pyne, Stephen J. Pyne, The Last Lost World, Penguin, →ISBN

1. not comparableobsoleteastronomyOf the Holocene, particularly pre-21st century.