| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
retrograde (ˈrɛtrəʊˌɡreɪd) ![]() | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | moving or bending backwards |
| 2. | (esp of order) reverse or inverse |
| 3. | tending towards an earlier worse condition; declining or deteriorating |
| 4. | astronomy |
| a. Compare direct occurring or orbiting in a direction opposite to that of the earth's motion around the sun | |
| b. occurring or orbiting in a direction around a planet opposite to the planet's rotational direction: the retrograde motion of the satellite Phoebe around Saturn | |
| c. appearing to move in a clockwise direction due to the rotational period exceeding the period of revolution around the sun: Venus has retrograde rotation | |
| 5. | biology tending to retrogress; degenerate |
| 6. | music of, concerning, or denoting a melody or part that is played backwards |
| 7. | obsolete opposed, contrary, or repugnant to |
| —vb | |
| 8. | to move in a retrograde direction; retrogress |
| 9. | (US) military another word for retreat |
| [C14: from Latin retrōgradī to go backwards, from gradi to walk, go] | |
| retrogra'dation | |
| —n | |
| 'retrogradely | |
| —adv | |