Merriam-Webster's Word Central

September 25, 2009

recede (verb): \rih-SEED\
What does it mean?: 1 a : to move back or away b : to slant backward2 : to grow less or smaller
How do you use it?: When we drove past the river, the water had receded some and we could see the record-breaking waterline.
Are you a word wiz?: "Recede" comes from a large word family. Which of the following do you think is NOT a member of that family?

A. "proceed," meaning "to go forward or onward, advance"

B. "necessary," meaning "going to happen with no way of preventing it"

C. "ancestor," meaning "one from whom an individual, group, or species is descended"

D. "receipt," meaning "a written statement saying that money or goods have been received"

No need to go any farther than D for the right answer! All of the answer choices except "receipt" come from the Latin "cedere," meaning "to go." Today's Buzzword derives from the prefix "re-," meaning "back," combined with "cedere," producing a word meaning "to go back." Similarly, "proceed" is a combination of "pro-," meaning "forward," and "cedere," giving us a word meaning "to go forward." The Latin ancestor of "ancestor" is "antecedere," which is a verb literally meaning "to go before." Word scholars think "receipt" comes from a different word family, one which has as its root the Latin "recipere," meaning "to receive."

Click here to cancel your e-mail subscription.