RELAPSE, verb intransitive relaps'. [Latin relapsus, relabor, to slide back; re and labor, to slide.] 1. To slip or slide back; to return. 2. To fall back; to return to a former state or practice; as, to relapse into vice or error after amendment. 3. To fall back or return from recovery or a convalescent state; as, to relapse into a fever. RELAPSE, noun relaps'. A sliding or falling back, particularly into a former bad state, either of body or of morals; as a relapse into a disease from a convalescent state; a relapse into a vicious course of life. [In the sense of a person relapsing, not used.]
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI