- the act of retrogressing; movement backward.
- Biology. degeneration; retrograde metamorphosis; passing from a more complex to a simpler structure.
Origin of retrogression
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for retrogression
All societies have had their epochs of progress and of retrogression.Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863
Yet there are many traces of advance as well as retrogression in the Laws of Plato.Laws
What would the Irish say if Mr. Bull suggested this movement of retrogression?Ireland as It Is
Robert John Buckley (AKA R.J.B.)
It was a retrogression—in some measure a return to his earlier form.Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete
Albert Bigelow Paine
A reversion to close imperialism would be for her a retrogression.Morals of Economic Internationalism
John A. Hobson
Word Origin and History for retrogression
1640s, noun of action, formed on model of progression, from Latin retrogressus, past participle of retrogradi "move backward" (see retrograde).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
- The act or process of deteriorating or declining.
- A return to a less complex biological state or stage.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.