Meaning

noun a time immediately before the present

noun the property of having happened or appeared not long ago

originEtymology tree English recent Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English recentness From recent + -ness.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0