• IPA: /ɹɪˈlæps/, /ˈɹiːˌlæps/

relapse (relapses, present participle relapsing; 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 after a period of improvement.
3. To slip or slide back physically; to turn back.

• German: zurückfallen
• Italian: ricadere, recidivare
• Portuguese: reincidir, recair
• Russian: впадать
• Spanish: reincidir, recaer

• German: sich verschlimmern, sich verschlechtern
• Italian: recidivare
• Portuguese: recair
• Russian: обостряться
• Spanish: recaer

relapse (plural relapses)

1. The act or situation of relapsing.

   a drug relapse

   • 1671, John Milton, “Book the Second”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗:

     Alas! from what high hope to what relapse / Unlooked for are we fallen!

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.

• French: rechute
• German: Rückfall, Rezidiv
• Italian: ricaduta, recidiva
• Portuguese: recaída, relapso
• Russian: рециди́в
• Spanish: recaída recidiva, reincidencia