recent
adjective
- happened a short while ago
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈɹiː.sənt/ / /ˈɹi.sənt/ / [ˈɹɪiː.sənt]
adj
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin recēns (genitive recentis).
- Having happened a short while ago.
“Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.”
- Up-to-date; not old-fashioned or dated.
- Having done something a short while ago that distinguishes them as what they are called.
“The cause has several hundred recent donors.”
“I met three recent graduates at the conference.”
- Particularly in geology, palaeontology, and astronomy: having occurred a relatively short time ago, but still potentially thousands or even millions of years ago.
“Finding it now means it was produced in more recent times, in astronomical terms.”
name
Etymology: As classifier for a geological epoch coinciding with human presence (“Recent era”) introduced by Charles Lyell in 1833.
- The Holocene.
“He [Charles Lyell] ignored Quaternary, a term he never accepted. The Recent addressed the age “tenanted by man,” which at the time barely extended beyond the chronicles of the Bible.”
noun
Etymology: Borrowed from Latin recēns (genitive recentis).
- A recently viewed or accessed item.
“Obviously, the first time you launch this app, your Recents list is empty.”