ret·ro

[re-troh]
adjective Informal.
1.
retroactive: retro pay.
2.
of or designating the style of an earlier time: retro clothes.

Origin:
by shortening

Dictionary.com Unabridged

retro-

a prefix occurring in loanwords from Latin meaning “backward” (retrogress); on this model, used in the formation of compound words (retrorocket).

Origin:
< Latin, representing retrō (adv.), backward, back, behind

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source Link To retro
00:10
Retro is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
retro (ˈrɛtrəʊ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n , pl -ros
1.  short for retrorocket
 
adj
2.  denoting something associated with or revived from the past: retro dressing; retro fashion

retro-
 
prefix
1.  back or backwards: retroactive
2.  located behind: retrolental
 
[from Latin retrō behind, backwards]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

retro-
prefix meaning "backwards, behind," from L. retro (prep.) "backward, back, behind," probably originally the ablative form of *reteros, based on re- "back." Common in combinations in post-classical Latin.

retro
1974, from Fr. rétro (1973), short for rétrograde, supposedly first used of a revival c.1968 of Eva Peron-inspired fashions (see retrograde). There is an isolated use in Eng. from 1768.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

retro- pref.

  1. Backward; back: retroposition.

  2. Situated behind: retroperitoneum.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
retro
French rétro (French clipping for rétrospectif, that is, retrospective)
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Example sentences
Now he has transcended both his first modern period and his retro period.
Which was something television wasn't, except in a retro way.
And missions to the biggest bits of junk might attach retro-rockets to them, to
  the same end.
It might work if they find an alternative to retro rockets.
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