retrograde Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb move backward in an orbit, of celestial bodies
  2. verb move in a direction contrary to the usual one
    • retrograding planets
  3. verb move back
    retreat.
    • The glacier retrogrades
  4. verb go back over
    rehash; hash over.
    • retrograde arguments
  5. verb get worse or fall back to a previous condition
    regress; retrogress.
  6. adjective moving from east to west on the celestial sphere; or--for planets--around the sun in a direction opposite to that of the Earth
  7. adjective of amnesia; affecting time immediately preceding trauma
  8. adjective satellite going from better to worse
    retrogressive.
  9. adjective satellite moving or directed or tending in a backward direction or contrary to a previous direction
    retral.

WordNet

Re"tro*grade adjective
Etymology
L. retrogradus, from retrogradi, retrogressus, to retrograde; retro back + gradi to step: cf. F. rétrograde. See Grade.
Definitions
  1. (Astron.) Apparently moving backward, and contrary to the succession of the signs, that is, from east to west, as a planet. Hutton.
    And if he be in the west side in that condition, then is he retrograde. Chaucer.
  2. Tending or moving backward; having a backward course; contrary; as, a retrograde motion; -- opposed to progressive. "Progressive and not retrograde." Bacon.
    It is most retrograde to our desire. Shak.
  3. Declining from a better to a worse state; as, a retrograde people; retrograde ideas, morals, etc. Bacon.
Re"tro*grade intransitive verb
Etymology
L. retrogradare, retrogradi: cf. F. rétrograder.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Retrograded ; present participle & verbal noun Retrograding
Definitions
  1. To go in a retrograde direction; to move, or appear to move, backward, as a planet.
  2. Hence, to decline from a better to a worse condition, as in morals or intelligence.

Webster 1913