recent

[ ree-suhnt ]
/ ˈri sənt /

adjective

of late occurrence, appearance, or origin; lately happening, done, made, etc.: recent events; a recent trip.
not long past: in recent years.
of or belonging to a time not long past.
(initial capital letter) Geology. noting or pertaining to the present epoch, originating at the end of the glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, and forming the latter half of the Quaternary Period; Holocene.

noun

Also called Holocene. (initial capital letter) Geology. the Recent Epoch or Series.

Origin of recent

1525–35; < Latin recent- (stem of recēns) fresh, new

OTHER WORDS FROM recent

re·cen·cy, re·cent·ness, noun re·cent·ly, adverb qua·si-re·cent, adjective qua·si-re·cent·ly, adverb

Example sentences from the Web for recentness

  • How often had he faced a widowed mother and her daughter, in mourning so deep as to suggest the recentness of their loss.

    Cobwebs and Cables |Hesba Stretton
  • Men's minds still were shuddering from the recentness of the escape.

  • And its recentness in human history may account for some of our blindness to this great fact.

    How to Analyze People on Sight |Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict

British Dictionary definitions for recentness (1 of 2)

recent
/ (ˈriːsənt) /

adjective

having appeared, happened, or been made not long ago; modern, fresh, or new

Derived forms of recent

recently, adverb recentness or recency, noun

Word Origin for recent

C16: from Latin recens fresh; related to Greek kainos new

British Dictionary definitions for recentness (2 of 2)

Recent
/ (ˈriːsənt) /

adjective, noun

geology another word for Holocene

Scientific definitions for recentness

Recent
[ rēsənt ]

See Holocene.