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retrograde

 - 6 dictionary results

ret⋅ro⋅grade

  [re-truh-greyd] adjective, verb, -grad⋅ed, -grad⋅ing.
Use retrograde in a Sentence
–adjective
1. moving backward; having a backward motion or direction; retiring or retreating.
2. inverse or reversed, as order.
3. Chiefly Biology. exhibiting degeneration or deterioration.
4. Astronomy.
a. moving in an orbit in the direction opposite to that of the earth in its revolution around the sun.
b. appearing to move on the celestial sphere in the direction opposite to the natural order of the signs of the zodiac, or from east to west. Compare direct (def. 25).
5. Music. proceeding from the last note to the first: a melody in retrograde motion.
6. Archaic. contrary; opposed.
–verb (used without object)
7. to move or go backward; retire or retreat.
8. Chiefly Biology. to decline to a worse condition; degenerate.
9. Astronomy. to have a retrograde motion.
–verb (used with object)
10. Archaic. to turn back.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME (adj.) < L retrōgradus going back, deriv. of retrōgradī, equiv. to retrō- retro- + gradī to step, go; see grade

Related forms:
ret⋅ro⋅grade⋅ly, adverb
ret⋅ro⋅grad⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. withdrawing, receding. 2. backward. 7. withdraw, recede, retrocede.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To retrograde
ret·ro·grade   (rět'rə-grād')   
adj.  

  1. Moving or tending backward.

  2. Opposite to the usual order; inverted or reversed.

  3. Reverting to an earlier or inferior condition.

  4. Astronomy

    1. Of or relating to the orbital revolution or axial rotation of a planetary or other celestial body that moves clockwise from east to west, in the direction opposite to most celestial bodies.

    2. Of or relating to the brief, regularly occurring, apparently backward movement of a planetary body in its orbit as viewed against the fixed stars, caused by the differing orbital velocities of Earth and the body observed.

  5. Archaic Opposed; contrary.

intr.v.   ret·ro·grad·ed, ret·ro·grad·ing, ret·ro·grades

  1. To move or seem to move backward. See Synonyms at recede1.

  2. To decline to an inferior state; degenerate.


[Middle English, from Latin retrōgradus, from retrōgradī, to go back : retrō-, retro- + -gradus, walking (from gradī, to go; see ghredh- in Indo-European roots).]
ret'ro·gra·da'tion (-rō-grā-dā'shən) n., ret'ro·grade'ly adv.
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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Word Origin & History

retrograde 
1392, originally of the apparent motions of planets, from L. retrogradus "going backward," from retrogradi "move backward," from retro- "backward" + gradi "to go, step." General sense of "tending to revert" is recorded from c.1530.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: ret·ro·grade
Pronunciation: 're-tr&-"grAd
Function: adjective
1 : characterized by retrogression
2 : affecting a period immediately prior to a precipitating cause <retrograde amnesia>
3 : occurring or performed in a direction opposite to the normal orforward direction of conduction or flow: as a : occurring along nerve cell processes toward the cell body <retrograde axonal transport> <retrograde degenerationof nerve fibers> b : occurring opposite to the normal direction or path of blood circulation retrograde blood flow in veins with incompetent valves> —compare ANTEROGRADE 2 —ret·ro·grade·ly adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

retrograde ret·ro·grade (rět'rə-grād')
adj.

  1. Moving or tending backward.

  2. Opposite to the usual order; inverted or reversed.

  3. Reverting to an earlier or inferior condition.

v. ret·ro·grad·ed, ret·ro·grad·ing, ret·ro·grades

  1. To move or seem to move backward; recede.

  2. To decline to an inferior state; degenerate.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Science Dictionary
retrograde   (rět'rə-grād')  Pronunciation Key 

  1. Having a rotational or orbital movement that is opposite to the movement of most bodies within a celestial system. In the solar system, retrograde bodies are those that rotate or orbit in a clockwise direction (east to west) when viewed from a vantage point above the Earth's north pole. Venus, Uranus, and Pluto have retrograde rotational movements. No planets in the solar system have retrograde orbital movements, but four of Jupiter's moons exhibit such movement.

  2. Having a brief, regularly occurring, apparently backward movement in the sky as viewed from Earth against the background of fixed stars. Retrograde movement of the planets is caused by the differing orbital velocities of Earth and the body observed. For example, the outer planets normally appear to drift gradually eastward in the sky in relation to the fixed stars; that is, they appear night after night to fall a little farther behind the neighboring stars in their westward passage across the sky. However, at certain times a particular planet appears briefly to speed up and move westward a bit more quickly than the neighboring stars. This happens as Earth, in its faster inner orbit, overtakes and passes the planet in its slower outer orbit; the appearance of moving counter to its usual eastward drift is thus simply the result of perspective as seen from Earth. Compare prograde.


The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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