reversion

Noun

• a failure to maintain a higher state

• returning to a former state

• turning in the opposite direction

• a reappearance of an earlier characteristic

• (genetics) a return to a normal phenotype (usually resulting from a second mutation)

• (law) an interest in an estate that reverts to the grantor (or his heirs) at the end of some period (e.g., the death of the grantee)

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  backsliding , lapse , lapsing , relapse , relapsing , reverting , regression , regress , retrogression , retroversion , reverse , reversal , turnabout , turnaround , atavism , throwback