regress definition | Dictionary.com

re⋅gress

[v. ri-gres; n. ree-gres]

–verb (used without object)

1.	to move backward; go back.

2.	to revert to an earlier or less advanced state or form.

–noun

3.	the act of going back; return.

4.	the right to go back.

5.	backward movement or course; retrogression.

Origin:
1325–75; ME regresse (n.) < L regressus a returning, going back, equiv. to re- re- + -gred-, comb. form of gradī to step, walk, go + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > ss

Related forms:

re⋅gres⋅sor, noun

Synonyms:
1. revert, retreat, backslide, lapse, ebb.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To regress

re·gress (rĭ-grěs')

v. re·gressed, re·gress·ing, re·gress·es

v. intr.

To go back; move backward.
To return to a previous, usually worse or less developed state.
To have a tendency to approach or go back to a statistical mean.

v. tr. Psychology
To induce a state of regression in.
n. (rē'grěs')

1. The act of going or coming back; return.
2. Passage back; reentry.
The act of reasoning backward from an effect to a cause.

[Latin regredī, regress- : re-, re- + gradī, to go; see ghredh- in Indo-European roots.]
re·gres'sor n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Regress

Re"gress\ (r?"gr?s), n. [L. regressus, fr. regredi, regressus. See Regrede.]

1. The act of passing back; passage back; return; retrogression. "The progress or regress of man". --F. Harrison.

2. The power or liberty of passing back. --Shak.

Regress

Re*gress"\ (r?*gr?s"), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Regressed (-gr?st"); p. pr. & vb. n. Regressing.] To go back; to return to a former place or state. --Sir T. Browne.

regress

c.1375 (n.), "act of going back," from L. regressus "a return," from regress-, pp. stem of regredi "to go back," from re- "back" + gradi "to step, walk" (see grade). The verb meaning "to move backward" is recorded from 1823; the psychological sense of "to return to an earlier stage of life" is attested from 1926. Regressive is recorded from 1634; in ref. to taxation, it is attested from 1889.

Main Entry: re·gress
Pronunciation: ri-'gres
Function: intransitive verb
: to undergo or exhibit regression regressing lesion>regressed to an infantile behavior pattern> regress transitive senses
: to induce a state of psychological regression in <regress ahypnotized subject>

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