Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, February 1st, 2025
the Third Week after Epiphany
the Third Week after Epiphany
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Bible Encyclopedias
Atavism
1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
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(from Lat. atavus, a great-great-great-grandfather or ancestor), the term given in biology to the reproduction in a living person or animal of the characteristics of an ancestor more remote than its parents (see HEREDITY). Loosely used, it connotes a reversion to an earlier type. Individuals reproduce unexpectedly the traits of earlier ancestors, and ethnologists and criminologists frequently explain by "atavism" the occurrence of degenerate species of man; but the whole subject is complicated by other possible explanations of such phenomena, included in the scientific study of normal "variation."
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
These files are public domain.
Bibliography Information
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Atavism'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/a/atavism.html. 1910.
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Atavism'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/bri/a/atavism.html. 1910.
