recrudescence

Definition

The condition or state being recrudescent; the condition of something (often undesirable) breaking out again, or re-emerging after temporary abatement or suppression.

Etymology

From Late Latin recrūdēscentia, from Latin recrūdēscēns, present participle of recrūdēscere (“to recrudesce”), from recrūdēscō (“(of a wound) to break open again; (of a fight, sedition,...) to break out again, be rekindled”); from re- (“again”) + crūdēscō (“to grow harsh or violent; to become worse”) (from crūdus (“bleeding, bloody, raw”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *krewh₂- (“blood outside the body”)) + -ēscō (suffix forming verbs indicating a becoming of something)). The word is cognate with French recrudescence, Italian recrudescenza, Spanish recrudescencia, recrudecimiento.

Example Sentences

• "The population of particular countries, or districts of country, may be given up to less improving pursuits than those of agriculture. A recrudescence of barbarism may condemn it [i.e., land] to chronic poverty and waste."
• "A blinding sunlight drowned all this at times in a sudden recrudescence of glare."
• "Of course, bad habits die hard, and even with the new policy there were recrudescences of the prior practices in the following years."

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