recession
re·ces·sion/ɹɪˈsɛʃn̩/noun
recession is a noun meaning “The act or an instance of receding or withdrawing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-E-C-E-S-S-I-O-N and has 3 syllables (re·ces·sion), and it appears 7.1 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of recession is recessions.
What does recession mean?
noun
- 1
The act or an instance of receding or withdrawing.
- 2
A period of low temperatures that causes a reduction in species; ice age.
- 3
A period of reduced economic activity.
Statisticians often define a recession as negative real GDP growth during two consecutive quarters.
- 4
The ceremonial filing out of clergy and/or choir at the end of a church service.
- 5
The act of ceding something back.
- 6
A procedure in which an extraocular muscle is detached from the globe of the eye and reattached posteriorly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce recession?
- /ɹɪˈsɛʃn̩/
Recession has 3 syllables, split re·ces·sion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-recession.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of recession
- recessions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is recession?
Recession appears 7.1 times per million words in written English, the 8,918th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Words people confuse with recession
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Recession in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense period of reduced economic activity:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does recession come from?
Borrowed from Latin recessiō, from recēdō (“recede, retreat”), from re- (“back”) + cēdō (“to go”). By surface analysis, recess + -ion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).