means A significant, widespread decline in economic activity lasting more than a few months, typically visible in falling output, spending, and employment.

from From Latin recessus, the past participle of recedere — 'to go back, withdraw' — from re- ('back') plus cedere ('to go,' the same root that gives us 'cede' and 'proceed'). The word first meant a literal drawing-back or retreating, and the architectural sense (a recess, a niche set back into a wall) shares the same lineage. Only in the early 20th century did economists borrow it to name the economy stepping backward — a tactful, almost euphemistic alternative to the blunter 'depression.'