Bible Dictionaries
Atavism

Webster's Dictionary

(1):

(n.) The recurrence, or a tendency to a recurrence, of the original type of a species in the progeny of its varieties; resemblance to remote rather than to near ancestors; reversion to the original form.

(2):

(n.) The recurrence of any peculiarity or disease of an ancestor in a subsequent generation, after an intermission for a generation or two.

Bibliography Information
Webster, Noah. Entry for 'Atavism'. Noah Webster's American Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​web/​a/atavism.html. 1828.