Dictionary

retrograde en · ADJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English retrograd, retrograde (“of a planet: appearing to move in a direction opposite to the order of the zodiac signs, retrograde; unfortunate”), from Middle French retrograde and Old French retrograde (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards; moving backwards; reverse; palindromic; opposed to change”) (modern French rétrograde), and from their etymon Latin retrōgradus (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards”) (compare Late Latin retrōgradus (“reverse; palindromic”)), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradus (“pace, step”). By surface analysis, retro- + -grade. The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

Meanings

1. Directed or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel; retreating.
2. Reverting to an inferior or less developed state; declining, regressing.
3. Reverting to an inferior or less developed state; declining, regressing. ▸ Of an animal: appearing to regress to a less developed form during its lifetime.
4. Of the order of something: inverse, reverse.
5. Of the order of something: inverse, reverse. ▸ Having a passage of music played backwards.
6. Of ideas or a person: opposing social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo; conservative.
   • Such retrograde people still exist, resisting modernity, dragging their feet. 1976 September, Saul Bellow, Humboldt’s Gift, New York, N.Y.: Avon Books, →ISBN, page 74:
   • […] in the form of the pussyfooted Alexis Smith. While referring to [Cole] Porter's 1946 film (alleged) biography, Night and Day, she mentions there were "certain aspects of the story which at that time they could not do." Was "certain aspects" a euphemism for gay? Smith's misplaced politeness here is truly retrograde. 1991 December 1, Rudy Grillo, “Who's The Top?”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 20, page 8:
   • retrograde ideas, morals, etc.
7. (archaic) Involving a return to or a retracing of a previous course of travel.
8. (archaic) Counterproductive to a desired outcome; contradictory, contrary.
   • In going back to school in Wittenberg, / It is most retrograde to our desire: / And we beseech you, bend you to remain c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
9. Of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body's spin.
10. (also, often, postpositional) Of a celestial body: seeming to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.
    • The inauspicious connotations of Mercury retrograde are actually quite old, evidenced in an ancient branch of astrology known as horary astrology. 2018 March 22, Wilder Davies, “Mercury Is Entering Retrograde Again. This Is Why So Many People Care”, in Time, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2023:
    • Mercury retrograde
11. Of a metamorphic change: resulting from a decrease in pressure or temperature.
12. Of amnesia: relating to the period leading up to the episode which caused it.
13. (archaic) Of verse: reading the same forwards or backwards; palindromic.

Forms

Antonyms

progressist · anterograde · prograde · prograde · reformist · direct · liberal · prograde

Deriveds

retrograde amnesia · retrogradist · retrograde inversion · Mercury retrograde problem · retrograde ejaculation · retrogradeness · retrogradism · endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography · retrograde motion · retrogradely · dorsoretrograde · nonretrograde · retrograde perfusion · retrograde neurotransmitter

Relateds

posigrade · retrogradation

Synonyms

reactionary · traditionalist · backward

Translations (25)

fi retrogradinen (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · ca retrògrad (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · hi प्रतिगामी (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · cmn 逆行 (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · fi retrogradinen (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · de retrograd (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · cs upadající (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · ca retrògrad (having a passage of music played backwards) · cs retrográdní (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · fa بازگشتی (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · ru ретрогра́дный (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · cs zpětný (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · fr rétrograde (counterproductive to a desired outcome) · bg обратен (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · bg ретрограден (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · fr rétrograde (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · cs zpátečnický (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · ca retrògrad (reverting to an inferior or less developed state — see also declining, regressing) · bg ретрограден (of a celestial body: seeming to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement) · grc ἀφαιρετικός (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · cs retrográdní (of a metamorphic change: resulting from a decrease in pressure or temperature) · fr rétrograde (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel) · af retrograde (of a celestial body orbiting another: in the opposite direction to the orbited body’s spin) · fi taannehtiva (of a celestial body: seeming to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement) · sv bakåtsträvande (or moving backwards in relation to the normal or previous direction of travel)

retrograde en · ADV · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English retrograd, retrograde (“of a planet: appearing to move in a direction opposite to the order of the zodiac signs, retrograde; unfortunate”), from Middle French retrograde and Old French retrograde (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards; moving backwards; reverse; palindromic; opposed to change”) (modern French rétrograde), and from their etymon Latin retrōgradus (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards”) (compare Late Latin retrōgradus (“reverse; palindromic”)), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradus (“pace, step”). By surface analysis, retro- + -grade. The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

Meanings

1. In a reverse direction; backwards.

Forms

Synonyms

retrogradely

retrograde en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• /ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

The adjective is derived from Middle English retrograd, retrograde (“of a planet: appearing to move in a direction opposite to the order of the zodiac signs, retrograde; unfortunate”), from Middle French retrograde and Old French retrograde (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards; moving backwards; reverse; palindromic; opposed to change”) (modern French rétrograde), and from their etymon Latin retrōgradus (“of a celestial object: appearing to move backwards”) (compare Late Latin retrōgradus (“reverse; palindromic”)), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradus (“pace, step”). By surface analysis, retro- + -grade. The adverb and noun are derived from the adjective.

Meanings

1. A movement backwards or opposite to the intended or normal motion.
2. A movement backwards or opposite to the intended or normal motion. ▸ The apparent movement of a planet across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.
3. One who opposes social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo; a conservative.
4. (archaic) One who reneges on an agreement, or switches loyalties; a rebel, a renegade.
5. The reversal of a melody so that what is played first in the original melody is played last, and what is played last in the original melody is played first.

Forms

Synonyms

mossyback · mossback · reactionary · traditionalist

Translations (9)

fi taannehtiminen (apparent movement of a planet across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement) · ru ретрогра́дка (one who opposes social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo — see also conservative) · cmn 逆行 (reversal of a melody) · bg ретроградие (apparent movement of a planet across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement) · bg реакционер (one who opposes social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo — see also conservative) · bg отстъп (movement backwards or opposite to the intended or normal motion) · ru ретрогра́д (one who opposes social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo — see also conservative) · fr rétrograde (one who opposes social reform, favouring the maintenance of the status quo — see also conservative) · bg отстъпване (movement backwards or opposite to the intended or normal motion)

retrograde en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• /ˈɹɛtɹə(ʊ)ɡɹeɪd/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈɹɛtɹəˌɡɹeɪd/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle French retrograder (“to (cause to) go back, return; to (cause to) move backwards; of a celestial object: to show retrograde motion; to date to an earlier period”) (modern French rétrograder), and from its etymon Latin retrōgradī (“to go or step back or backwards; of a celestial object: to show retrograde motion”) (compare Late Latin retrogradare, retrogradari, retrogredere), from retrō (“back, backwards; behind; before, formerly”) + gradior (“to step, walk; to advance, go”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʰredʰ- (“to go; to walk”)).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To cause (a land feature such as a coastline or waterfall) to undergo retrogradation, that is, to travel in the direction of the land or upstream due to erosion.
2. (transitive) To change (minerals, rocks, etc.) metamorphically through a decrease in pressure or temperature.
3. (obsolete, transitive) To cause (someone or something) to revert to an inferior or less developed state.
4. (intransitive) To revert to an inferior or less developed state; to decline, to regress.
   • […] Monna Brigida, who had retrograded to false hair in Romola's absence, but now drew it off again and declared she would not mind being gray, if her dear child would stay with her. 1862 July – 1863 August, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], Romola. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1863, →OCLC, book III, page 260:
5. (intransitive) Of a celestial body, especially a planet: to show retrogradation; to seem to move across the sky in the opposite direction from its ordinary movement.
6. (intransitive) Of a land feature: to travel in the direction of the land or upstream due to erosion.
7. (intransitive) To retreat or withdraw from a position.
8. (intransitive, obsolete) To move backwards; to recede.
   • A dabble in the stocks does not always turn out profitably; cotton is sometimes heavy on our hands, and real estate will sulkily retrograde, when, by the calculation, it ought to have advanced. 1845, Joseph C. Neal, “The Moral of Goslyne Greene, who was Born to a Fortune”, in The Gift: A Christmas, New Year, and Birthday Present, Philadelphia, Pa.: Carey and Hart, →OCLC, page 68:
9. (intransitive, obsolete) Of the telling of an incident, etc.: to move to an earlier time.

Forms

Deriveds

retrograded · retrogradingly

Relateds

retrogress · retrogressive · retrogression

Translations (10)

bg отстъпя ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position) · fi vetäytyä ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position) · it retrogradare (of a celestial body: to show retrogradation) · la subdūcō ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position) · fi taannehtia (of a celestial body: to show retrogradation) · la regredior ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position) · fa بازگشتن ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position) · la inclīnō ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position) · la abscēdō ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position) · bg отстъпвам ((military) to retreat or withdraw from a position)