a recessive physical characteristic only appears in a child if it has two genes for this characteristic, one from each parent. It does not appear if a dominantgene is also present.Oxford Collocations DictionaryRecessive is used with these nouns: geneSeefull entrySee related entries:Genetic engineeringWord Originlate 17th cent.: from recess, on the pattern of excessive.
See recessive in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic EnglishSee recessive in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
