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From Latin relapsus, past participle of relabi ‎(to slide back, fall back), from re- ‎(back) + labi ‎(to slip, slide, fall).


  • IPA(key): /ɹɪˈlæps/, /ˈɹiːˌlæps/
  • Rhymes: -æps


relapse ‎(third-person singular simple present relapses, present participle relapsing, simple past and past participle relapsed)

  1. (intransitive) To fall back again; to slide or turn back into a former state or practice.
    He has improved recently but keeps relapsing into states of utter confusion.   to relapse into a stupor, into vice, or into barbarism;  to relapse into slumber after being disturbed
  2. (intransitive, medicine, of a disease) To recur; to worsen, be aggravated.
  3. To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.



relapse ‎(plural relapses)

  1. The act or situation of relapsing.
    Alas! from what high hope to what relapse / Unlooked for are we fallen! — Milton.
  2. (medicine) An occasion when a person becomes ill again after a period of improvement
  3. (obsolete) One who has relapsed, or fallen back into error; a backslider.


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  1. vocative masculine singular of relāpsus