Atavism or atavised

“Yet it actually says more about Russia’s weaknesses than strength that the former KGB colonel has atavised into a czar.”
end partial quote from:

Charmer and Brute: Close Encounters With the Two Putins

I was interested in the word ATAVISED because I'm not very familiar with it. Here is what it means:

Atavism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atavism

Wikipedia

Atavism is the tendency to revert to ancestral type. In biology, an atavism is an evolutionary throwback, such as traits reappearing which had disappeared ...

‎Evolution of the horse - ‎Atavistic regression - ‎Heck cattle - ‎Atavism (album)

Atavism - Merriam-Webster Online

www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/atavism

Merriam‑Webster

a : recurrence in an organism of a trait or character typical of an ancestral form and usually due to genetic recombination. b : recurrence of or reversion to a past ...

Atavism | Define Atavism at Dictionary.com

dictionary.reference.com/browse/atavism

Dictionary.com

Atavism definition, the reappearance in an individual of characteristics of some remote ancestor that have been absent in intervening generations. See more.

Atavistic | Define Atavistic at Dictionary.com

dictionary.reference.com/browse/atavistic

Dictionary.com

of, pertaining to, or characterized by atavism; reverting to or suggesting the characteristics of a remote ancestor or primitive type. Origin Expand. 1870-1875.

 

So, I guess this means he is a throwback to Czar Nicolas or something like that.