[re.ces.sive] adj (ca. 1673) 1 a: tending to recede b: withdrawn
2. 2 a: producing little or no phenotypic effect when occurring in heterozygous condition with a contrasting allele "~ genes" b: expressed only when the determining gene is in the homozygous condition "~ traits" -- re.ces.sive.ly adv -- re.ces.sive.ness n
[2]recessive n (1900) 1: an organism possessing one or more recessive characters
2: a recessive character or gene