I.to go back, fall back, give ground, retire, withdraw, recede.
A. Lit. (class.; cf.: “decedo, abscedo): pone nos recede,” Plaut. Poen. 3, 2, 34: “ego abs te procul recedam,” id. Mil. 2, 4, 4: “hinc,” id. Bacch. 4, 1, 7: “illuc,” id. Rud. 3, 5, 7: “recedere loco,” id. Am. 1, 1, 84; cf.: “centuriones ex eo quo stabant loco recesserunt,” Caes. B. G. 5, 43: “non modo illum e Galliā non discessisse, sed ne a Mutinā quidem recessisse,” Cic. Phil. 8, 7, 21: “procul a telo veniente,” Ov. M. 12, 359: “de medio,” Cic. Rosc. Am. 38, 112: “ab hoste,” Ov. P. 3, 1, 151: “longius,” Verg. G. 4, 191: “tristis recedo,” Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 35; id. C. 2, 19, 31: “ab Illiturgi,” Liv. 24, 41: “in castra Corneliana,” Caes. B. C. 2, 30 fin. —
2. In partic., to retire to one's bedchamber, go to rest, Petr. 85, 5; Ov. Ib. 239.—
B. Transf.
1. Of inanimate and abstract things: “ut illae undae ad alios accedant, ab aliis autem recedant,” Cic. Planc. 6, 15: “verba movere loco, quamvis invita recedant,” yield, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 113: “multa ferunt anni venientes commoda secum, Multa recedentes adimunt,” the departing years, id. A. P. 176: “abeant ac recedant voces illae,” Plin. Pan. 2, 2.—
2. Of places, things, etc., to stand back, recede (i. e. to be distant or retired; “freq., esp. after the Aug. per.): secreta parentis Anchisae domus arboribusque obtecta recessit,” Verg. A. 2, 300; cf. Cat. 64, 43; and: “etsi lata recessit Urbe domus,” Stat. Th. 5, 242; Plin. Ep. 2, 17, 21: “Palaestina vocabatur, quā contingit Arabas ... et quā recedit intus, Damascena,” Plin. 5, 12, 13, § 66: “Magna Graecia in tres sinus recedens Ausonii maris,” id. 3, 10, 15, § 95; 4, 10, 17, § 33; Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 18.—Of nations: “gens Cappadocum longissime Ponticarum omnium introrsus recedens,” Plin. 6, 8, 8, § 24.—In a painting, etc.: “pictor vi artis suae efficit, ut quaedam eminere in opere, quaedam recessisse credamus,” Quint. 2, 17, 21; cf.: “venter recessit,” Plin. Ep. 3, 6, 2.—Poet., of places, which appear to recede by our departure from them: “provehimur portu, terraeque urbesque recedunt,” Verg. A. 3, 72: “mea terra recedit,” Ov. M. 8, 139; 11, 466; Sil. 3, 157; Stat. Th. 1, 549 al.—
II. In gen., to go away, withdraw, retire, depart from a place, to abandon a thing, = discedere.
A. Lit. (in good prose very rare), = discedere, haec effatu' pater, germana, repente recessit, vanished, Enn. ap. Cic. Div. 1, 20, 40 (Ann. v. 48 Vahl.): “nec vero a stabulis pluviā impendente recedunt Longius (apes),” Verg. G. 4, 191; Plin. Ep. 1, 13, 2.—
2. Transf., of things, to separate from any thing (with which it was previously connected): “in aliis ossibus ex toto saepe fragmentum a fragmento recedit,” Cels. 8, 7, 1: “carnes ab ossibus,” Plin. 22, 8, 9, § 22; 19, 5, 23, § 67: “caput e cervice,” Ov. P. 2, 8, 65; “for which also: caput cervice,” id. H. 16, 153; cf. id. F. 6, 708; Luc. 8, 674. —
B. Trop., to withdraw, depart, desist (class.; esp. freq. in Cic. and Quint.): si quid vos per laborem recte feceritis, labor ille a vobis cito recedet, Cato ap. Gell. 16, 1, 4: “avius a verā longe ratione recedit,” Lucr. 2, 229: “senes, ut in otia tuta recedant, aiunt, etc.,” Hor. S. 1, 1, 31: “ab officio recedere,” Cic. Off. 3, 4, 19; Auct. Her. 3, 3, 5; Cic. Caecin. 20, 58: “ab armis,” i. e. to lay them down, id. Rosc. Am. 6, 16: “penitus a naturā,” id. Fin. 4, 16, 43: “ab eodem exemplo,” Quint. 1, 6, 6; 2, 8, 13; 7, 3, 21: “a sententiis ejus, ab omni voluntate, consiliisque,” Cic. Att. 12, 4, 2: a vitā, i. e. to kill one's self, id. Tusc. 4, 17, 40 (but Plin. 29, 1, 5, § 6, to die, in gen., a doubtful conjecture; Jahn, procedente vitā): “a veritatis viā longe,” Lact. 2, 8, 1: “ab oppugnatione,” Hirt. B. G. 8, 40.—Very freq. of inanimate and abstract subjects: “postquam recessit vita patrio corpore,” Plaut. Merc. prol. 73: “(nomen hostis) a peregrino recessit et proprie in eo, qui arma contra ferret, remansit,” has lost the signification of foreigner, Cic. Off. 1, 12, 37; so, “res a consuetudine,” id. Quint. 21, 67; Quint. 2, 13, 11: “figurae sententiarum ab illo simplici modo indicandi recedunt,” id. 9, 2, 1: “ab usu cotidiano,” id. 10, 1, 44 et saep.—Poet., with simple abl.: “sic nunquam corde recedit Nata tuo,” departs, Stat. S. 3, 5, 55.—Absol., to vanish, pass away, disappear: “et pariter Phoebes, pariter maris ira recessit,” Ov. M. 12, 36: “spes,” Luc. 7, 688: “quonam nostri tibi cura recessit?” Verg. A. 2, 595: “fortuna recessit,” id. ib. 3, 53.— With in: “in ventos vita recessit,” passed away into the winds, Verg. A. 4, 705.— Hence, * rĕcessus , a, um, P. a. (acc. to I. B.), drawn back, receding: “scaena recessior,” standing farther back, Vitr. 5, 8.