[ree-suh
nt] 
| 1. | of late occurrence, appearance, or origin; lately happening, done, made, etc.: recent events; a recent trip. |
| 2. | not long past: in recent years. |
| 3. | of or belonging to a time not long past. |
| 4. | (initial capital letter) Geology. noting or pertaining to the present epoch, originating at the end of the glacial period, about 10,000 years ago, and forming the latter half of the Quaternary Period; Holocene. |
| 5. | Also called Holocene. (initial capital letter) Geology. the Recent Epoch or Series. |
| re·cent (rē'sənt) adj.
[Middle English, new, fresh, from Latin recēns, recent-; see ken- in Indo-European roots.] re'cen·cy, re'cent·ness n., re'cent·ly adv. |