recidive

recidive adjective: synonym of recidivous (“recurring”).

Adjective

recidive (not comparable)

Synonym of recidivous (“recurring”).
- But the truth is, as I haue oft ſeene, that this forme doth nothing, ſaue onely hide the ſicknes, and appeaſe the dolors for a time, ſo that it is alwayes recidiue, and oſt times by the long and violent vſage heereof, the humors are rendred more drying, maling, and burned, of the which come...1596, “To cure the Spanish disease by decoction of Gaiac, which is the first way”, in Peter Lowe, compiler, An Easie, Certaine, and Perfect Method, to Cure and Preuent the Spanish Sicknes. […]...
- [T]he evil humours remaining after a Criſe, are wont to make one recidive or relapſing; […]1659, J[ohn] Macallo, “Part. II. To foresee the issue of the Disease.”, in W. S., editor, XCIX. Canons, or, Rules; Learnedly Describing an Excellent Method for Practitioners in Physick, London: […]...
Synonyms:

recidivous
Synonym of recidivous (“prone to relapse”).
- [H]is maieste had never remembred their precedent offenses nor imputed thesame^([sic]) to their charge, Being a prince most honorable obseruatour of his worde . But seing their cankred recidive hert he could no lesse doo then to suffre them to have his lawes . to thexemple of suche Ingrate and...1537 June 16 (Gregorian calendar), Thomas Cromwell, “Cromwell to Sir Thomas Wyatt”, in Roger Bigelow Merriman, Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell, volume II (Letters from 1536, Notes, Index)...
- He was, then, already a recidive offender when he came here for the first time, and he has been here 4, and not three times, as the press says.1926 June 26, Bartolomeo Vanzetti, “Bartolomeo Vanzetti to EVD [Eugene Victor Debs]”, in J[ames] Robert Constantine, editor, Letters of Eugene V. Debs, volume 3 (1919–1926), Urbana, Ill.: University...
Synonyms:

recidivous

Noun

recidive (plural recidives)

Synonym of recidivation (“relapse”).
- Take alwaies heede to the forces of the ſick, & beware of that which is cauſe of all dolors and recidiues: that is, the number of the frictions, by reaſon that ſome giue ouer-few, fearing theſe accidents, and to the contrary, ſome others that gyue ouer-many, in ſuch ſort that I haue heard men vaunt...1596, “Of the forme of the Friction”, in Peter Lowe, compiler, An Easie, Certaine, and Perfect Method, to Cure and Preuent the Spanish Sicknes. […], London: […] Iames Roberts, →OCLC, signature D...
- But this was like the palliative cure of a ſore, & a lightning for the preſent of a ſick bodie: wherby it might ſoone after by relapſe fall backe, as it were, into a recidive, and a worſe diſeaſe and more daungerous than the other.1600, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XXIIII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 529
Synonyms:

recidivation
Synonym of recidivist (“one who falls back into prior habits”).
- The severity of Jansenism could hardly be a greater guarantee for repentance than the mild discipline of the Church, when it was compatible with the impenitence of [Jean François Paul de Gondi, Cardinal] de Retz, and the feeble penance of such a recidive as Anne de Rohan.1853, John Bernard Dalgairns [pseudonym; John Dobree Dalgairns], “Introduction. The Spirit of Jansenism.”, in The Devotion to the Heart of Jesus; with an Introduction on the History of Jansenism...
- It is the great dominant question of the recidive, the habitual offender, the criminal class. In his lurid romance, “Les Misérables,” Victor Hugo has canonized the innocent recidive, Jean Valjean, who is not the enemy but the victim of law and order.1897 August, William Barry, “The New Theory of Crime and Justice”, in American Ecclesiastical Review. A Monthly Publication for the Clergy., volume XVII (Old Series; volume VII, New Series), number...
Synonyms:

recidivist

Verb

recidive (third-person singular simple present recidives, present participle recidiving, simple past and past participle recidived)

(intransitive) Synonym of recidivate (“to fall back into prior habits”).
- Agayne if he ofte tymes recidiuyng, and fallyng into the ſame diſeaſe agayne, be at the length with muche a doe rid ⁊ healed therof, thẽ doth he the moꝛe hate his diſeaſe, and alſo the moꝛe knowledge the benefite of his healing, and ſhall better knowe how to cure other that are lykewiſe diſeaſed.1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Gospell of Sainct Marke. The .x. Chapter.”, in Thomas Key [i.e., Thomas Caius], transl., The...
- ‘I’d walk out today if I had the courage.’ / ‘Ah, but then you’re probably a first offender, while Judith and I are recidivists. Am I right?’ / ‘And how!’ Judith laughed. ‘What’s more I’m going on recidiving just as soon as I kick the dust of this place off my heels.’1971, Dymphna Cusack, “Part Five”, in A Bough in Hell, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, page 165
Synonyms:

recidivate

Examples of recidive in a sentence

It was the second case of recidive calculus which I had operated on since my arrival in England; […]1831 April 26, W. B. Costello, “On the Recurrence of Stone after the Operation of Lithotrity. Case Related by a Patient.”, in Thomas...
If any suspicion of recidive aldosteronism was present, patients were carefully reexamined by hormonal tests and computed tomography (CT).1998 April, Jukka Sirén, Matti Välimäki, Kauko Huikuri, Arto Sivula, Petri Voutilainen, Reijo Haapiainen, “Adrenalectomy for Primary...
But seing their cankred recidive hert he could no lesse doo then to suffre them to have his lawes . to thexemple of suche Ingrate and Irremediable obstinate hertes.1537 June 16 (Gregorian calendar), Thomas Cromwell, “Cromwell to Sir Thomas Wyatt”, in Roger Bigelow Merriman, Life and Letters of Thomas...
The recidive is the greatest obstacle of this disease, because the yeast usually returns after the long treatment period.2004 November 10, A. Bozzi, B. S. Reis, F. L. S. Prado, E. P. Pedroso, M. F. Leite, A. M. Goes, “Modulation of CD28 and CD86 Expression in...

Synonyms of recidive

Forms of recidive

Noun
plural	recidives
Verb
third-person singular present	recidives
present participle	recidiving
past participle	recidived
past	recidived

Origin of recidive

From Latin recidīvus; compare Middle French recidive. Doublet of recidivous.

From Middle French recidive (modern French récidive) or its etymon Latin recidīva, from the feminine of recidīvus.

From Middle English resydiven, from Latin recidīvō, from recidīvus + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Questions about recidive

What does recidive mean?: Recidive means synonym of recidivous (“recurring”).
How do you use recidive in a sentence?: It was the second case of recidive calculus which I had operated on since my arrival in England; […]
What part of speech is recidive?: Recidive can be an adjective, a noun or a verb.

Words near recidive in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: recidive (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “recidive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/recidive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.